Unlocking efficiency: A data-driven shift in pharmaceuticals

In the complex and highly regulated world of pharmaceuticals, effective data management is a critical factor for success. Sanofi, a global pharmaceutical and healthcare company, faced the challenge of consolidating and optimizing its diverse data sources. This case study explores how Starburst, as the chosen data virtualization technology, plays a pivotal role in overcoming these challenges to support Sanofi’s continuous innovation.

Sanofi grappled with a fragmented data infrastructure marked by separate warehouses for operational, supply chain, and patient data. This not only hindered collaborative efforts, but also posed a considerable barrier to real-time insights due to slow query performance and latency issues. The pharmaceutical giant also faced a complex data migration challenge, as stringent industry requirements demanded rigorous validation while moving or copying data. 

Furthermore, the disparate nature of data storage across multiple systems, including Snowflake, Oracle, Postgres, Teradata, and MongoDB, created operational inefficiencies which lead to increased costs and a significant carbon footprint. 

The lack of a centralized data catalog and the need for manual extraction and loading (ETL) processes added to the complexity by decreasing the speed and accuracy of data-driven decision-making processes. These challenges impacted Sanofi’s ability to streamline operations, meet compliance standards, and to achieve optimal efficiency throughout the drug discovery processes.

Facing a complex data landscape, Sanofi evaluated various data virtualization solutions, including Denodo. However, the optimization and performance gains expected from Denodo fell short of Sanofi’s expectations. 

“We tried Denodo, but we didn’t get the same level of pushdown optimization that we were expecting. With Starburst, it’s an MPP engine, so it can scale up massively. And that’s the most important factor when evaluating data virtualization technology,” shares Souradip Pal, IT Solutions Architect at Sanofi.  

Overall, the platform’s scalability, connectivity, and performance optimization capabilities were critical in addressing Sanofi’s unique challenges, making Starburst the preferred choice for transforming its data analytics infrastructure.

Since implementing Starburst at Sanofi, several outcomes have already surfaced:

Streamlined data access

Before Starburst, end users, particularly those in clinical data operations, had to navigate three separate data hubs to access relevant information. Starburst streamlines this process by being the single point of access for data across different data platforms.

Time and resource savings

The reduction in time spent on data retrieval and validation allows business users to invest time in  more critical tasks. This efficiency gain has the potential to accelerate processes and decision-making, ultimately contributing to the pharmaceutical company’s success.

Efficiency in clinical trials

Analytical teams conducting clinical trials benefit from quicker data analysis and error-checking. Access to clean data expedites the authorization process for pharmaceutical market entry, potentially translating to significant time savings in the drug discovery process. 

“The drug manufacturing and drug discovery process is quite long. It can take one or two years, or up to twenty years,” explains Pal. “With Starburst, we anticipate that streamlining access to data and how quickly analysts can find information will speed up the time-to-market by one or two years.” 

Data validation and migration ease

Starburst’s data virtualization capabilities simplify the validation process for Sanofi’s cloud migration, reducing the risk of errors, and ensuring data consistency between on-premises and cloud environments.

Sanofi is embarking on the next phase of its transformative journey using Starburst’s data virtualization solution to expedite drug discovery processes, reduce operational costs, and enhance overall efficiency. The company also plans to implement data products for their various business lines. This strategic initiative marks the continuation of their journey with Starburst, reflecting Sanofi’s commitment to data democratization, sustainability, and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry.