Discover how a global pharmaceutical company, with North Highland as its transformation partner, cut submission timelines between the end of their clinical trials and submission to the health authority by two-thirds potentially unlocking $100M per submission. The program reimagined processes using digital solution automation, auto-generation and auto-prediction for end-to-end data integration with North Highland providing transformation leadership through program, project and change management.
Our client faced a competitive disadvantage: while their 24-week submission timeline sat at the industry median, leading competitors had accelerated to 10-12 weeks through data integration and automation. In pharmaceutical development, speed determines patent rights and market share—the first company to submit to health authorities typically wins both. This gap had real consequences: the client recently lost first-to-file positioning on a high-value therapy, ceding patent rights and over $100M in revenue to a faster competitor. The root causes were systemic: data fragmented across 15+ legacy systems, 60% manual document compilation requiring 40+ FTEs per submission, and quality reviews that surfaced errors too late to remediate efficiently.
The ambition was bold: reduce submission timelines to 8 weeks by the end of 2025 through what would become the Hyper Acceleration program, achieving parity with top competitors and protecting an estimated $100M in value per submission. To succeed, our client knew they needed more than recommendations. They needed a partner who could drive adoption, embed change, and flex as the program evolved.
Working side by side with our client, our teams modernized their data management systems and developed an end-to-end change management plan that would accelerate submissions and transform delivery across the enterprise.
Together, we built a trusted, collaborative partnership that helped reduce time-to-market by driving key technological initiatives. To bring this transformation to life, North Highland led initiatives across change, delivery, and enablement. Our teams:
The results speak for themselves. By embedding directly into operations and driving change at every level, North Highland delivered measurable outcomes that transformed how our client brings therapies to market with impact felt across speed, value, and capability.
As their Business Lead shared in the 2024 Client Satisfaction Survey:
"North Highland provides a value for money service, they generate tangible inputs...not just loads of flashy slides! They flex their support to where it is needed in the project and they are a trusted partner that I feel comfortable discussing issues and ideas with."
Our partnership has grown from targeted project support to enterprise-wide transformation. The Hyper Acceleration program is more than a win; it is a blueprint for how pharmaceuticals can scale innovation and sustain competitive advantage across the business. We matched talent to the specific needs of each workstream, adjusted our support as priorities shifted, and embedded ourselves into teams until new ways of working took hold. Our client considers us part of their organization because we operate that way. The relationship keeps expanding because what we build together continues to deliver after the engagement ends.
Looking to make a change but not sure if it will stick? Just like this client, it’s vital to approach transformation in Life Sciences holistically, focusing not just on the technology implementation but also the change management, workforce strategy, and process standardization that will make it sustainable.
Business leaders can see similar value realization by:
If you’re ready to take the next step with your transformation, contact our experts today.