Pharma Portfolio Decisions are still stuck in Spreadsheets

In an industry where a decision can impact billions of dollars and thousands of patients — and where each day of delayed launch can mean millions in lost revenue — many pharma companies remain trapped in slow and static decision-cycles.

R&D teams, BD groups, and commercial functions tend to operate in silos.

Spreadsheets, PowerPoints, and manual slides still drive critical decisions.

The paradox?

Although these functions are tightly intertwined in every asset and across the portfolio, the information guiding their decisions remains fragmented, static, and outdated the moment it is created.

What used to be the end point of portfolio discussions — a P&L-style snapshot of the future — is now only the starting point.

Today, decision makers need to explore scenarios and understand cross-functional impacts instantly, and actively shape the future rather than react to it.

Without this capability, organizations risk suboptimal trade-offs, missed opportunities, and slow responses to competitive or clinical shifts.

This is exactly what we hear from decision makers and portfolio leaders across large and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies. The pain is universal: slow cycles, siloed inputs, and limited ability to explore strategic options at the speed the business requires.

For many companies, this has become the primary reason to move to Captario — replacing static processes with an infrastructure that finally connects the pieces and supports decisions in real time.