(L to R): Members of the U.S. Neurology Internal Engine Stephanie Hunter-Banks, Jim Hlavenka, Brad Chapman, Trenton Merideth, Tonja Pitts

UCB’s U.S. Neurology team won a 2019 EyeForPharma award last night in the “Most Promising Agile Transformation” category, which recognizes an experimental initiative that has the potential to disrupt the status quo. The award was presented for the team’s Internal Engine transformation, fulfilling the award criteria of showing agility through rapid creation of a service that touched real customers before being refined and assessed through smart measurement.

Initiated in 2018, the U.S. Neurology team embarked upon an integrated and agile transformation to enable UCB’s success and ensure future sustainability in our rapidly changing healthcare environment. The change focused both externally in the healthcare ecosystem and internally with the creation of the Internal Engine, comprised of different focus areas and competencies to support our external impact. We believe this effort is laying the foundation for future ways of working that enable UCB’s Patient Value Strategy, while delivering immediate and meaningful impact for the patients and stakeholders we serve.  
 

“This award is for everyone at UCB, especially our leadership, who leaned in from the beginning and embraced a journey without all of the answers outlined at the start,” said Mike Davis, Head of U.S. Neurology, UCB. “It’s fitting recognition for everyone who embraced the shifting roles, elevated sense of urgency, and individual accountability of our agile model, no one more so than Brad Chapman and the team that led the effort.” 

Operating as an Internal Engine and leveraging new agile mindsets and behaviors, the U.S Neurology team operates with an agile framework to fuel the delivery of solutions to patients in an accelerated and responsive manner. At the core of the agile approach are co-located, self-directed, integrated squads that are empowered and jointly accountable for end-to-end decision-making and development of solutions. 

The creation of the Internal Engine has been a game changer for UCB’s U.S. Neurology team. It’s brought together cross-functional disciplines and departments to work collaboratively in a transversal and integrated manner, enabling quick resolution of challenges and continuous learning, as well as building a culture of partnership, transparency, and feedback across the entire team. 

As a result, we’ve seen a more efficient and optimized approach to value creation and delivery, including unprecedented speed on our highest priority initiatives. We’ve reduced time to market readiness by 25%. The Internal Engine transformation embodies the innovation, focus, and agility core to delivering on UCB’s Patient Value Strategy.