Digital Evolution: Novo Nordisk's Shift to Ontology-Based Data Management

TL;DR

This paper details Novo Nordisk's implementation of an ontology-based data management system to enhance data interoperability and support AI-driven drug discovery, sharing lessons learned for digital transformation in pharma.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive technical and organizational blueprint for adopting ontology-based data management in a large pharmaceutical enterprise.

Findings

Successful integration of OBDM supports data federation and discovery.

Enhances AI-driven research and digital transformation.

Provides practical lessons for similar organizations.

Abstract

Biomedical data is growing exponentially, and managing it is increasingly challenging. While Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) data principles provide guidance, their adoption has proven difficult, especially in larger enterprises like pharmaceutical companies. In this manuscript, we describe how we leverage an Ontology-Based Data Management (OBDM) strategy for digital transformation in Novo Nordisk Research & Early Development. Here, we include both our technical blueprint and our approach for organizational change management. We further discuss how such an OBDM ecosystem plays a pivotal role in the organizations digital aspirations for data federation and discovery fuelled by artificial intelligence. Our aim for this paper is to share the lessons learned in order to foster dialogue with parties navigating similar waters while collectively advancing the efforts in the fields of data management, semantics and data driven drug discovery.