Building the Partnerships That Make Patient-Centricity Real
Roche knew that improving patient outcomes couldn't be done alone. The question was how to build collaborations that created genuine shared value, not just good intentions.
The challenge
In many low-access countries, Roche's business is enabled and largely funded by governments. That creates a specific problem: systemic healthcare issues block market access, but pharma companies can't easily enter direct conversations with public stakeholders about healthcare access. The result is a standoff that patients pay for.
Roche understood that solving this required something different from traditional business models. Not supply chains, not procurement, not partnerships where organizations work for each other. What they needed was ecosystem collaboration — organizations working with each other toward a common purpose, with aligned goals and shared accountability.
What we did
Roche commissioned Vertical to research the healthcare ecosystem in Ivory Coast, mapping the players, the existing and potential collaboration opportunities among public and private stakeholders, and the roadblocks preventing more efficient healthcare services and innovations.
To make a genuinely complex network digestible for decision-makers, we created an ecosystem map — built in collaboration with local experts, based on the metaphor of a metro line network. Something that could serve as a practical visual aid, not just a consulting artifact.
From that foundation, we supported Roche in launching the Access For Future Movement in early 2020 — a program to pilot and validate an ecosystem approach for solving systemic access issues in high-population, low-access countries. Despite the spread of the pandemic, affiliates in India, Nigeria, Egypt, and Thailand joined the program, engaging government representatives and NGOs to tackle healthcare access challenges country by country.
What happened
Working alongside public health authorities, globally renowned NGOs, and local hospitals, Roche was able to put its north star — "Doing Now What Patients Need Next" — into genuine practice. The ecosystem approach helped Roche's affiliates understand patient needs more clearly, bridge the gap to decision-makers, and build markets that had previously been locked by systemic barriers.
The Access For Future Movement demonstrated something important: ecosystem collaboration at this scale is possible, even in complex low-access environments, and even through a pandemic. The model has continued to evolve since.
Contact
Interested in ecosystem mapping or collaboration design for your markets? Get in touch with Lars Melakoski (lars@vertical.vc).