Tencent Health and Eisai China Forge Strategic Partnership to Empower Pharma Digital Transformation with Integrated Digital Platform

Digital review in the digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry refers to adjusting key sales variables by analyzing sales data at a specific point in time,To provide a basis for decision-making in the next phase of marketing.Theoretically, efficient and in-depth digital reviews canHelp pharmaceutical companies efficiently reach users, reduce sales costs, and meet compliance requirements, ultimately increasing sales volume and profits.Thus, data review is widely regarded by pharmaceutical companiesDigital Upgrade MostForImportantphase.

However, in practice, the challenge of data review lies not in leveraging efficient analytical tools such as AI to make precise decisions, but in the most fundamental preliminary stage—data collection.

Many pharmaceutical companies have encountered such issues in their efforts to promote academic marketing. A manager once cited an example: “We previously assigned our staff a daily target of updating information on 10 physicians, aiming to obtain accurate physician data through the sales channel. However, few promotional representatives consistently fulfilled this task. Some submitted exactly 10 entries every day for an entire month—neither more nor less—making it evident that the data had been backfilled retroactively. If the data source is flawed, how can precise analysis be conducted?”

To address the numerous management challenges arising from digital transformation, pharmaceutical companies both in China and abroad are exploring their respective pathways. Recently, Eisai China signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent Healthcare. Leveraging Tencent Healthcare’s SaaS solution for the pharmaceutical industry—NGES (Next Generation Engagement Suite), specifically its Next-Station Doctor Interaction Management Platform—as the foundation, and using WeChat Mini Programs as the carrier, the partnership will focus on three core scenarios: CRM (one-stop customer management), Events (online and offline meeting management), and MCM (multi-channel content marketing). By breaking down and refining every stage of the doctor interaction process, the collaboration aims to facilitate one-stop integration of doctor interaction scenarios, enable simultaneous user reach and bidirectional engagement, and provide intelligent behavioral recommendations. These efforts will help pharmaceutical enterprises establish deeper connections with physicians and gradually resolve various challenges associated with digital upgrading in the pharmaceutical industry.

From a management perspective, the essence of digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry lies in leveraging tools such as platforms, data, and algorithms to enhance sales efficiency and empower employees to deliver greater value. However, some employees perceive the proliferation of these tools not as a direct driver of effectiveness, but rather as an added burden.

There are many reasons for this divergence in perception, with the core issue being the lack of interoperability within platforms themselves and the inability of data to be shared across different platforms.

“For example, in advancing our digital marketing initiatives, we need to build three functional capabilities, which may require engaging three different vendors. While evaluating these functions individually has its pros and cons, integrating them for seamless operation makes it difficult to achieve a synergistic effect where 1+1+1>3. Therefore, we seek a tailored solution that can be continuously upgraded and iterated based on our evolving needs,” said Feng Yanhui, Global Senior Vice President of Eisai and President of Eisai China.

The urgent need for integrated solutions has brought Eisai China and Tencent Healthcare together. Zhou Jie, Head of Digitalization and Customer Innovation at Eisai China, stated, “Previously, Eisai’s data was scattered across different systems. Although the volume of data was large, it consisted only of fragmented pieces. We have been continuously exploring how to transform this redundant data into assets that truly drive business operations and provide valuable insights, thereby enabling the delivery of more precise services.”

In our discussions with Tencent, we identified a potential opportunity: Eisai China already extensively uses Tencent Meeting, a Tencent product, for its daily marketing and conference activities. By leveraging Tencent Meeting as an entry point to integrate more pharmaceutical-specific capabilities into the NGES platform, it is theoretically possible to help Eisai China connect omnichannel scenarios and bridge “application silos” while ensuring ease of use. This approach would reduce the complexity of data collection and facilitate high-quality digital performance reviews.

However, addressing data governance and interoperability in the digital marketing of pharmaceuticals is merely the first step. To truly unlock the potential of this tool, it must be designed with a user-centric mindset, enabling employees to understand its value and proactively integrate it into their daily workflows.

To achieve this goal, Tencent Healthcare engaged in multiple rounds of discussions with Eisai China, incorporating several practical daily-use features. For instance, pharmaceutical company representatives often need to communicate with nearly one hundred physicians simultaneously. Relying solely on traditional methods makes it easy to inadvertently overlook some physicians or engage in disproportionately frequent interactions with others.

In this scenario, Tencent Healthcare’s NGES platform can serve as a reminder and advisory tool, assisting staff in analyzing and managing physician information more evenly and efficiently, thereby addressing “blind spots” in their work.

In addition to delivering the two aforementioned functions, another major feature of NGES lies in facilitating medical communication.

In simple terms, Tencent Healthcare has built an MCM platform within NGES. This interactive tool simultaneously supports e-meeting functionalities and continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. Leveraging Tencent Healthcare’s content capabilities and connectivity, it provides multi-channel content recommendations. On one hand, it helps physicians access more academic conferences to promote scholarly exchange and facilitates convenient learning of cutting-edge knowledge during fragmented time slots. On the other hand, it assists pharmaceutical companies in establishing robust communication channels with physicians, ultimately achieving a win-win outcome for physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and patients.

If the goal were merely to build a solution that breaks down data silos and meets user needs, even SaaS companies outside the healthcare sector would be capable of developing similar platforms. Therefore, in addition to addressing the practical pain points of pharmaceutical companies, Tencent Healthcare has devoted significant attention to detail, striving to create a platform that closely aligns with the specific needs of the pharmaceutical industry.

At the signing ceremony, Wu Wenda, Vice President of Tencent Healthcare and Head of Business, stated: “Across various industries, Tencent Cloud has accumulated over 400 enterprise-level applications, covering multiple domains such as cloud storage, databases, audio and video services, and office collaboration. Therefore, within the specialized segment of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, the entire NGES solution essentially focuses on establishing robust connectivity and repurposing effective applications for specific scenarios, thereby helping medical institutions achieve service innovation and enhance management efficiency.”

“For instance, everyone uses WeCom, WeChat, and Tencent Meeting. The challenge—and our current focus—is how to integrate the unique characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry into these applications. We aim not only to build a user-friendly system but also to foster strong interactions with enterprises and physicians, which is a long-term endeavor.”

This is the significance of the collaboration between Tencent Healthcare and Eisai China. Empowered by NEGS, Eisai China can optimize digital pharmaceutical marketing and establish more efficient ways to engage with physicians, while Tencent Healthcare can continuously identify pain points in current digital pharmaceutical marketing practices during this process, iteratively improve its products, and ensure the system’s vitality.

Regarding the future of the partnership, Ms. Feng Yanhui stated, “Eisai China has always adhered to its corporate philosophy of hhc (human health care) and implemented the hhceco (hhc ecosystem) development model. This deepened collaboration with Tencent Healthcare is a key component of our ‘Four New’ strategy in the China region, which focuses on new products, new channels, new platforms, and new businesses. Both parties will fully leverage their respective leading advantages in advanced therapies and digital technologies to jointly explore innovative models for professional academic communication geared toward the future, establish efficient information dissemination and sustainable commercial cycles, and continuously strengthen the infrastructure for corporate informatization development.”

Wu Wenda also stated, “Against the backdrop of rapidly evolving market conditions, the digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry is hitting the ‘accelerator.’ Through the NGES one-stop interactive platform, we aim to help Eisai China reconstruct its engagement touchpoints and dialogue models with physicians. This will drive the multi-channel online extension of academic communication while leveraging information sharing to support intelligent and agile decision-making, thereby opening up new avenues and enhancing efficiency for the transformation and upgrading of pharmaceutical enterprises.”

Although it has built barriers in the field of digital pharmaceutical marketing and established collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical companies, Tencent Healthcare’s strategic layout extends beyond this.

Beyond the NGES academic communication platform, Tencent Healthcare has expanded into multiple production and operational scenarios, including pharmaceutical R&D, manufacturing, marketing, and services, establishing a comprehensive suite of digital capabilities such as AI-driven drug discovery, smart medicine cabinet services, and cloud security infrastructure.

With these capabilities, how deeply can Tencent Healthcare penetrate the pharmaceutical sector? Wu Wenda outlined Tencent Healthcare’s future vision from three perspectives.

"First is patient services. The convenience of internet healthcare will only continue to improve in the future. We aim to deliver high-quality health services to patients through familiar and habitual channels, leveraging connectivity and application capabilities such as WeChat and the Tencent Healthcare Medicine Cabinet."

Second, tools for academic marketing. We will continue to develop and optimize industry-specific tools in this sector. The B2B industry requires deep engagement and long-term commitment—often spanning many years—and we are not here to just give it a brief try before moving on.

Third is AI-driven drug discovery. Current AI technologies have certain limitations in capability; we will explore how to effectively accelerate and upgrade pharmaceutical R&D, going beyond mere efficiency improvements.”

For Tencent Healthcare, its capabilities in patient services and digital marketing have been validated across multiple sectors; however, navigating the nascent and complex landscape of AI-driven drug discovery may require an additional dose of creativity.