Jahanara Miotto: Helping Pharma and Life Sciences Companies Transform to a Data-Driven Business
Top 10 Most Inspiring Women of Influence in 2021
It is often said the best business ideas come from personal
experiences and if you can channel the learnings from those experiences in a
positive way that helps you create meaningful change in the marketplace, then
you have a successful business. During over 25 years working in the life
science industry working across many diverse functions in laboratory R&D
and in clinical development, Jahanara Miotto, President, Metrendalytics
Consultants, experienced repeated frustration around the inability to
access to project, operational and financial information in a timely manner to
drive better and faster business decisions.
She would search around in various disconnected systems and
spreadsheets or talk to team members in order to try to gather all the
information she needed. Then, she would have to take even more time re-enter it
in her own centralized tracker so she could have all the information she needed
in one place. Jahanara had to do this time consuming task often to keep the
information up to date. She also often wondered, with all the modern technology
available, why doesn’t a more efficient tool exists that integrates all this
information into one place automatically so it can be used to provide deeper
insight into the business, its products, services, processes, financials, and
people? This is what led her to create the company Metrendalytics and the tools
to help address this issue.
However the tool alone doesn’t address the whole problem. It
also takes passion and subject matter knowledge. Anyone who has worked with
clinical trial data knows how much time and effort is involved in developing
database specifications and structure; validating programs; exporting data from
one system, importing it into another, and verifying the transfer; then
applying quality control procedures on the data at the receiving end. Such an
undertaking can be overwhelming without having the passion, as well as the
knowledge, to persevere.
Right blend of hands-on industry experience and
knowledge
Metrendalytics has the domain knowledge and understanding of
how data relates to one another in the context of other data. Metrendalytics
also has the right blend of hands-on industry experience and knowledge combined
with the team’s passion and expertise in application development, automation,
security and compliance and cloud based solutions that helps customers meet
their business requirements. “Because we understand the business, we can ask
the right questions to build end-to-end workflow solutions that provide key intelligence,
present timely status updates across your studies and insights to streamline
operational processes including visually rich analytics and dashboards,” says
Jahanara.
Jahanara believes roadblocks can turn into opportunities “if
you are able help customers understand that it is actually in their best
interest to adapt and change.” One example Jahanara faced early on was some
resistance to using cloud-based systems instead of typical on premise. The
conventional thinking was the on prem was more secure and therefore more
controlled and some companies were opposed to cloud-based systems for these
reasons. “But, as we have all seen over the years, it turns out cloud based
systems have greater security since this feature is absolutely critical to the companies
that host these systems. Without this level of security, the web services
companies could not survive.
“Add to this the lower cost of using these cloud services vs
cost of in-house servers, facilities and staff to maintain systems and it turns
out that those companies who made the transition to the cloud were actually
ahead of the curve and therefore have reaped the benefits of doing so. Another
example of a roadblock we have faced is some companies thought they needed a
large big name company to build their systems or, on the other end of the
spectrum, they thought their internal IT group could take on this challenge,” she
adds.
She further says, “What companies who took these approaches
learned was that the cost was much, much greater and the time was much longer
to produce a system, if they succeeded at all, and that system was not user
friendly. Even worse, when internal resources were applied, they were
distracted from their main mission of supporting internal systems already in
place. We have seen some of these companies actually come back to us because
they realize Metrendalytics was better suited to build their system better and
faster because of our experience and because we are dedicated to this task with
low code, quick development technology which is flexible and adaptive to meet
their needs.”
Combining existing internal and external data into a
single platform
Metrendalytics is a Pharmaceutical Consulting Services and
Software Development Company, focused on helping pharma/biotech clinical
operations and CRO’s laboratory operations, centralize operational data for
real-time use. “We utilize cloud based, scalable, modular, rapid development,
low cost platform which are analytics and visualization enabled. The key to
success is our software combines existing internal and external data into a
single platform allowing our customers to gain efficiencies and make faster,
more informed decisions. As a result, we help transition your business from a
process that is reactive to one that is more proactive,” says Jahanara.
Over the last decade, Jahanara says, we saw a tremendous
amount of money invested in technology in this industry, however we have to ask
the questions, “what did we get from this investment? Have we accelerated the
drug development process? Are we able to understand the pharmacology or
predictive models better? Did we improve the business of science? Or did we
just digitized the ineffective paper process, because the #1 problem still
facing scientist today is ‘Finding data when I need it’.”
Developing new and expanded capabilities to meet needs
of customers
Metrendalytics has always been at the forefront when it
comes to how the team use information to improve business results. “We will
continue to do so in the future. The recent Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated
the adoption of cloud based and remotely accessed information systems. We will
build on our past success in this area to develop new and expanded capabilities
to meet full service needs of our customers. Our low cost, rapid development model
also makes replacing some of the disconnected and more expensive “point
solution” systems possible,” she says.
At Metrendalytics, Jahanara and the team recognize that companies
need platforms to create efficiencies comprehensively across project planning
and execution with built in analytic tools that are easy to implement, are
highly customizable, and cost effective. To enable this transformation journey
around the optimization of “running the laboratory business” with technology,
would require innovative business solution uniquely designed and molded around
their company’s specific business model and processes. Jahanara’s goal is to
provide those integrated solutions which provide a consolidated view of all
your operational data—whatever the source—on one shared platform can foster
interactivity, collaboration, and reduce risk.
“We work with the unique needs of each company in proposing
the development of an operational dashboards with automated data integration,
aggregation, and signal detection in interactive visualizations, which allows
for centralized, remote monitoring of project performance in real time.
Reviewers would be able to zero in on signals and trends that could affect
operational performance and make smarter decisions about how to deploy
monitoring resources. This would eliminate the management of various
spreadsheets typically used for the tracking of these activities which are a
basis of vast inefficiencies. As a result, companies are essentially
roadblocked in the ability to unleash the power buried in their operational
data,” she says.
Additionally,
Jahanara’s competitive advantage is having extensive hands-on experience and
knowledge in R&D, leveraging that knowledge and combining it with current
technologies to improve drug development outcomes. “We offer some of the same
products our competitors do like electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) or client
relationship management (CRM) systems. But we also offer products no other
companies have. First, we can integrate information from their existing point
solution products so that, second, we can bring together all their important
business information into a single platform which allows for a consolidated
view of their business including associated metrics and analytics. Our ability
to build an all-encompassing system quickly and cost efficiently is unique,”
she further adds.
Partnering with clients to help take them to the next
level is the key!
Metrendalytics culture is to really partner with its clients
to help take them to the next level. The team works with its customers to
understand their business, their pain points and where they want to be in the
future. Being knowledgeable in the industry allows Metrendalytics to understand
each client’s specific situation allowing the company to be flexible to design
the tools they need to be successful. Metrendalytics’s goal is to add value and
transparency for all levels of the organization. Jahanara’s vision is to
improve the “life of the scientist in the laboratory” by providing tools to
leverage already existing information. “We help mid-level managers drive
improvement gains through automated capture of metrics and trends. We provide
senior level executives up to the minute visibility to their entire portfolio
to understand current status of their projects and where action is needed to
keep programs on track. By being more efficient with information, we help all
levels of the organization perform better to help take time and cost out of the
drug development process,” Jahanara says.
Earlier in her career, Jahanara worked very hard to earn an
opportunity to advance her career. She was working as a scientist in the lab
and developed several important assays to help advance her company’s portfolio
of drugs in development. This along with her dedication to teamwork was
recognized by her supervisor who took a chance on Jahanara by promoting her to
head of the laboratory. “Our group expanded the capabilities of the laboratory
and I was eventually granted a US patent for one of the drugs we developed.
This was one of my greatest achievements.”
Jahanara also considers starting her own company,
Metrendalytics, as a great achievement. She could have continued her career in
pharmaceutical development but instead had the courage to trust in her instincts
and experience to go out on her own and pursue her passion for making things
better for the industry as a whole. It’s a decision that she is grateful for
every day. “Last, but certainly not least, I count my daughters as my greatest
achievement. Both of whom saw me as a woman working in the pharmaceutical
industry and also being a mom to them. They both decided to follow in my
footsteps working in pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry after earning
Masters Degrees. Couldn’t be more proud of them,” Jahanara shares.
Ethics of hard work and wanting to make things better
Jahanara believes she had a successful career in the drug
development industry because of her ethics of hard work and wanting to make
things better for the industry. This, along with a lifelong passion to learn
and apply new technologies is what also drives the success of Metrendalytics. She
has assembled a group of like-minded successful individuals who work together
with the goal of making its customers successful. She focuses on being
authentic and bringing value every day. Trying her best not to keep a fixed
mindset in order to be able to explore new opportunities. She says, if you wait
for things to be perfect, you can miss opportunities. Her mindset is never stop
adapting, for Metrendalytics, experimentation has helped her reach a product
market fit.
Listening to the customers is the key to bringing them the
goods and services they need, believes Jahanara. This motivates her every day.
Constantly developing additional services and solutions that complement core
communications offering that in turn help customers maintain their relevance as
well as helping them to increase their revenues and profitability.
Metrendalytics are relentless innovators by design as well as necessity. “We
are constantly making tweaks to products and testing new functionality to see
what resonates best with our customers. Seeing their amazement in what we can
do for them keeps us motivated to do even more,” Jahanara says.
Getting a fresh perspective is important
Jahanara advises fellow businesswomen to “Keep learning and
adapting. Don’t let roadblocks or failures deter your drive. Look at the world
through the eyes of other people. People get caught up in their own vision
without carefully considering what might be the actual flaws in their plan.
Best to take a step back and get a fresh perspective. Accountability is also
key, things like responding to emails on time, doing what you say you’ll do and
being genuinely honest and hard-working to not only the customers, but all
people, gives others faith in you and more likely to recommend you as a trusted
friend, rather than just as a business.”
Jahanara’s company continues to build a network of experienced, results oriented subject matter experts in laboratory, drug metabolism and chemistry manufacturing and controls. This expanded knowledge base provides access to new global markets and opportunity to leverage its technology to benefit these areas. “We will continue to adapt and using new technologies including Blockchain technology are also an important part of our future roadmap. It is clear this is the next disruptive technology that will offer fundamental changes to the way companies do business. Blockchain holds great potential as a unified solution for efficient and secure management of information around the globe. Its uniquely distributed network would enable the development of complete end-to-end information management for every company and product. By allowing multiple stakeholders to participate in distributing the network, it creates an incredibly secure database, without the patchwork configuration of previous technologies,” Jahanara concludes.