New Accelerator Aims To Help Pharma And Digital Health Companies Get On The Same Page

The pharma world is notoriously slow moving, taking years to develop a molecule. Meanwhile digital health companies are often working at breakneck speed to innovate. This is just one of the many culture gaps the pair encounter working together, according to digital innovation vet Naomi Fried.

This morning, Fried and pharmaceutical exec Laura Gunn announced a new accelerator, dubbed PharmStars, that is focused on helping to bridge this gap and educating both sides about how to work together.

Fried has been in the innovation space for decades, serving as the first VP of innovation and advanced tech at Kaiser Permanente and then as the first chief innovation officer at Boston Children's. But it was working for Biogen when she really started to see this issue evolve.

"I was recruited to Biogen to develop their innovation beyond the molecule strategy. That was when I really began to think about and work on the potential value that digital health brings to the pharma industry," she said.

While digital health may have had a value proposition, the pair don't always see eye to eye. After working in pharma, she moved to consulting where she heard about the issues from both parties.

"What I've observed over the last five years or so is there seems to be a pharma startup gap between pharma and the digital health companies. They can't seem to get together and do the types of deals that make senses from the perspective of the patients," Fried said.

This was where she got the idea for PharmStar. Starting today, June 1, startups interested in working with pharma will be able to apply for the new accelerator's first cohort. In order to be considered the companies need to have a product. The program will last 10 weeks and the first cohort will start in the