Harnessing Data for Mental Health: Lessons from Alkermes
By David Sweenor
Published on July 3, 2024
Key Insights
Alkermes, a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company, sought to improve its data management capabilities in order to support the launch of Lybalvi, the first oral medication for treating both schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder.
To manage the complexity of its data ecosystem, Alkermes implemented the Alation Data Intelligence Platform. This platform enables users across the organization to easily find, understand, and trust data, ultimately driving data-driven decision-making.
Successful adoption required involving cross-functional stakeholders from the start, providing sufficient training, ensuring both bottom-up and top-down organizational change, and adapting with agility as strategies evolved.
Everything that we do, from our drug discovery to data management and governance, is all about making sure that we can help our patients gain access to our medication to improve the health of their life.
Introduction
Mental illness is a pervasive issue affecting society, with an estimated 1 in 5 Americans experiencing mental health challenges. While this statistic is alarming, there is hope on the horizon. The potential for data and artificial intelligence (AI) to make a positive difference in the lives of those struggling with mental health disorders is quickly becoming a reality.
Alkermes, a global biopharmaceutical company, is at the forefront of harnessing the power of data and AI to improve patient outcomes in neuroscience. With a portfolio of proprietary medicines, including long-acting injectables for substance use disorders and schizophrenia, as well as the first oral medication for the treatment of both schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder, Alkermes is committed to making a meaningful impact. By leveraging data from various sources, such as first-party data from CRM systems and branded websites, along with second and third-party data from external vendors, Alkermes is building core data capabilities to support its commercial strategy and operations.
This article will explore Alkermes' data transformation journey as first shared at Snowflake Summit 2024. It will highlight the pivotal role of a data catalog in enhancing data governance and literacy efforts. We will also discuss the importance of change management and the lessons learned throughout this process.
Alkermes: A Neuroscience-Focused Biopharmaceutical Company
Alkermes is a global biopharmaceutical company that has recently transitioned to focusing solely on neuroscience following the separation of its oncology business unit. The company boasts a portfolio of proprietary medicines aimed at treating various mental health disorders. Among these are Vivitrol, a long-acting injectable for the treatment of opioid and alcohol substance use disorders, and Aristada, another long-acting injectable for the treatment of schizophrenia. Most recently, Alkermes launched Lybalvi, its first oral medication indicated for the treatment of both schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder.
CRM system and branded websites, while second and third-party data is sourced from external vendors.
"We use a lot of data within the commercial organization, within a pharmaceutical company like Alkermes, and a lot of the data are first-party data that we collected through our own CRM system, through our own branded website, for example,” shares Bo Yang, Director of Commercial Data Strategy and Governance at Alkermes. “But we have even more data, which we call second-party or third-party data, that we source from external vendors.”
Managing vast amounts of data, which reaches billions of records, requires a robust set of core data management capabilities. These capabilities include master data management, data operations and optimization, and data acquisition and governance.
Leveraging data within Alkermes is intended to ensure that patients have access to medications that can improve the quality of their lives. By harnessing the power of data and developing the necessary skills, mindset, and tools, Alkermes aims to fulfill its commitment to supporting individuals affected by serious mental health conditions. The company's dedication to data-driven decision-making is a testament to its mission of positively impacting patients' lives.
Change management is so important when you're rolling out a tool like this. You want to make sure you provide sufficient training. You want to make sure that the data catalog becomes part of your everyday process.
Data Strategy and Governance at Alkermes
Alkermes embarked on a data transformation journey to support the launch of Lybalvi and the company's continued growth. Yang and his team identified and prioritized key data pain points based on their business impact. Starting around 2020, they began rebuilding their master data management (MDM) system and commercial data warehouse with well-structured semantic layers to enable users to leverage data more efficiently and effectively.
"Thinking back around 2020, when the organization was preparing for the launch of Lybalvi, we started tackling our data challenges by rebuilding our MDM and our commercial data warehouse with a well-structured semantic layer,” Yang shares. “This will help our users leverage that data in a more efficient and effective way."
Along the way, Alkermes brought in data specialists with expertise in MDM, data warehouse operations, vendor management, contract and budget management, and data processing and quality improvement.
Centralizing data made it more accessible to the wider organization. “As we got close to the launch of Lybalvi, we actually saw data utilization reach a new high,” Yang reveals. “And together with that, the complexity of data in our data ecosystem reached a new high as well. So we realized we had to spend more time in standing up and formalizing our data governance program.”
Soon after, Alkermes kicked off a proof of concept (POC) with Alation and subsequently implemented their first-ever commercial data catalog and data governance platform.
The Pivotal Role of a Data Catalog
With thousands of tables, billions of records, and hundreds of thousands of columns in their commercial data warehouse, Alkermes knew that keeping up with its constantly changing data environment was a daunting challenge. Data dictionaries and business rules were scattered across various formats, such as Excel files, PowerPoint decks, Word documents, or even living in people's heads. This lack of a central repository made it difficult for users to find and understand the data they needed.
We realized we had to stand up and formalize our data governance program. We knew a tool like a data catalog would be very, very helpful.
Users faced numerous frustrations, including inconsistencies in business rules, lack of guidance for identifying datasets, limited visibility into downstream data usage, and a general need for a better understanding of QA/QC rules.
These pain points highlighted the necessity and benefits of implementing a data catalog, which would provide a central repository for data definitions, business rules, and lineage, making it easy for users to find, understand, and trust the data.
The data catalog was crucial in enhancing Alkermes' data governance and literacy efforts. It provided a central repository to keep up with the constantly updating data environment. The catalog acted as a single pane of glass and a source of truth for Alkermes users to better navigate and understand the huge volumes of data.
The catalog addressed common pain points such as inconsistencies in business rules, a lack of guidance for identifying datasets, and limited visibility into downstream data usage by making it easy for users to find and understand data.
Change Management and Adoption
Effective change management is crucial when rolling out a data catalog like Alation. "It's key that you involve the business from the very beginning," Yang emphasizes. "This is not a project just for your IT and data people. It's really for the end users. So, to be able to identify the core, functional stakeholders and those power users from the get-go and having them be part of the journey is very important."
By identifying and engaging key stakeholders early on, from the POC stage through the evaluation and implementation process, Alkermes was able to ensure that the tool selected best fits their specific business needs and model.
Sufficient training must be provided to drive user adoption and make the data catalog a part of everyday workflows. Clear communication is key, and sometimes, over-communication may be necessary to help users understand the tool's benefits and value.
Workshops and training sessions can help users become more comfortable with the data catalog and realize its potential to make their work more efficient and effective.
Change management is so important when you're rolling out a tool like this. You want to make sure you provide sufficient training. You want to make sure that the data catalog becomes part of your everyday process.
Change needs to happen from both the bottom-up and top-down. While engaging end users is critical, executive sponsorship is equally important to ensure the success of the data catalog implementation. Leaders should clearly communicate the importance of the initiative and provide the necessary resources and support for the project.
It's also crucial to recognize that change management is an ongoing process, and organizations must be agile and adapt to evolving strategies. Incremental progress and value should be celebrated, as perfection should not be the enemy of good.
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
Throughout Alkermes' data transformation journey, several key lessons emerged that can serve as best practices for other organizations embarking on similar initiatives.
One of the most critical takeaways is the importance of involving cross-functional stakeholders and power users from the very beginning. Data leaders need executive support to lead the change and encourage the entire organization to modify its habits and behaviors around data. Securing the buy-in from your power users ensures this change takes root.
This makes communication—and even over-communication, at times—even more essential. Be sure to tailor your message for your audience. For example, your business users will need to be uniquely informed about the reasons for managing data in new ways compared to your data scientists.
The final lesson? Have a plan, but be flexible. "Don't let perfection be the enemy of good," Yang underscores. "We're always told that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, right? So, it's important for you to have a plan, have a roadmap. But also remember, the execution of the plan is not always going to be perfect. So it's always important to be agile because your strategy can change very often."
Once your organization embraces these changes, note how new efficiencies open up new avenues to innovation. Yang saw firsthand that automating certain processes through the catalog empowered data users with more free time for more impactful, meaningful work.
Making all this important information about data easily accessible to our users not only means that our users now feel a lot more knowledgeable and empowered, but it also frees up time for our IT and data management team members to focus on things that are more impactful.
Conclusion
Alkermes' transformative journey in leveraging data and AI for mental health serves as an inspiring example for business leaders across industries. By prioritizing data governance, investing in the right tools, and fostering a culture of data literacy, Alkermes has demonstrated the immense potential of data-driven decision-making in improving patient outcomes.
As data intelligence platforms continue to evolve, organizations can empower their IT teams, data teams, and business users with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the power of data. By providing a central repository for data definitions, business rules, and lineage, data catalogs like Alation enable users to easily find, understand, and trust their data, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective workflows.
"Alation really allows people to find, understand and trust the data," Yang shares.
However, the true measure of success lies not in the technology itself but in its impact on people's lives. For Alkermes, the ultimate goal is to help patients access the medications they need to improve their mental health and overall quality of life.
By embracing data governance best practices and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, organizations across industries can unlock the potential of data and AI to drive meaningful change and make a positive difference in the world.
Are you curious about your organization's data culture maturity? Take the first step in your data transformation journey by taking our free 15-minute quiz. This assessment will provide valuable insights into your current data culture and offer personalized recommendations on progressing from one maturity level to the next. Don't miss this opportunity to learn more about enhancing your data governance practices and empowering your teams with the knowledge they need to drive meaningful change.
- Key Insights
- Introduction
- Alkermes: A Neuroscience-Focused Biopharmaceutical Company
- Data Strategy and Governance at Alkermes
- The Pivotal Role of a Data Catalog
- Change Management and Adoption
- Lessons Learned and Best Practices
- Conclusion
