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Unlocking the Strategic Value of Safety Data
Feb 02, 2026 | Christina Kim and Celine Ghafari
Feb 02, 2026 | Christina Kim and Celine Ghafari
This edition of Veeva’s safety newsletter dives into key insights from top industry events in pharmacovigilance (PV) over the past year. Learn how safety teams are harnessing AI, automation, and real-time oversight to deliver increased efficiency and unlock the strategic value of safety data.
4 insights from PV teams on benefits of unified, connected safety
Building in and operationalizing global efficiency and data quality
By moving to a unified and connected safety platform, Merck was able to remove 10 siloed systems from its technology infrastructure. Simplified workflows and improved data quality have resulted in improved operational efficiency across multiple functions. Similarly, Novo Nordisk is focused on creating one global safety database, which will eliminate separate local intake systems in Japan, China, and the U.S. Both companies are using connections between safety and other business areas to automate data flow, eliminate custom integrations, and reduce manual reconciliation.
Elevating PV from operations to strategic impact
Automation and safety-specific agentic AI promise significant innovation and productivity gains for biopharmas. To get there, many companies are working on simplifying processes and standardizing common data and workflows to speed automation of high-volume, manual tasks that may be prone to error or inconsistency. By reducing the operational burden and data reconciliation, PV teams gain more time to review and analyze data, investigate complex safety questions, and perform more in-depth assessments — enabling a greater focus on high-value, strategic work.
“E2B data is easy to ingest because of the structure. But 60% of our data is not coming in that way,” said Aniket Agarwal, the director of patient safety data operations and analytics at Sandoz. “I think this is where AI can help structure that information so that you can use downstream automation to process it efficiently.”
Reducing operational costs with real-time data access and visibility
For smaller biotechs, balancing outsourcing with data ownership and governance is a strategic imperative. With a fully outsourced model, “I couldn’t get access to the data, I didn’t have access to the safety database,” said Johanna Strandell, director of patient safety and QPPV at Camurus. With PV activities back in house, the biotech has kept costs steady despite increased cases and brought compliance levels to near 100%. The safety team can view reports and proactively address data issues.
Improving collaboration, reducing risk
Small biopharmas often manage key safety documents like the pharmacovigilance system master file (PSMF), pharmacovigilance agreements (PVAs), and risk management plans in general-purpose, non-validated content management applications. While convenient in early stages, these tools are not designed for regulated PV processes — creating risks with no clear audit trails or validation documentation. Leveraging a scalable and extendable safety solution that manages PV processes and related content in a validated environment enables faster decision-making, stronger compliance, and continually supports the business as the needs evolve.
Read the full report here.
Camurus Reduces Case Processing Time and Costs with In-House Safety
“Using Veeva Safety, we have reduced case processing time by at least 30 minutes per case while maintaining compliance,” says Johanna Strandell, director of patient safety, QPPV, Camurus.
New Episode: Building a Connected Safety Platform for the Future
In the fourth episode of the Safety [R]Evolution podcast, David Kološić talks with Marius Mortensen about the vision for Veeva Safety; the benefits of a trusted, validated cloud platform; and how the platform enables connected data and processes, advanced automation, and AI.
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