GSK: From Pilot Projects to Enterprise Adoption

What you’ll learn

Topic: GSK’s transformation of their biostatistics toolkit through embracing R and open-source software

Problem: GSK, a leading pharmaceutical company, faced the challenge of modernizing their biostatistics processes while maintaining regulatory compliance and meeting critical timelines. The organization needed to shift from traditional proprietary tools to end-to-end use of R, requiring significant changes to existing processes, team capabilities, and organizational culture. With complex regulatory requirements and established workflows, GSK had to navigate the obstacles of achieving parity between R and other proprietary languages in their biostatistics toolkit while ensuring teams could continue delivering key results during the transition.

Solution: GSK approached their open-source transformation through a comprehensive strategy focused on gradual adoption and community engagement:

1. Initiated strategic pilots with open-source software, particularly R, to demonstrate value and build organizational confidence while fostering broader acceptance across teams.
2. Developed evolving training programs to upskill biostatistics teams in R while ensuring they could continue meeting critical deliverables and regulatory requirements throughout the transition.
3. Committed to contributing back to the open-source community as an integral part of their adoption journey, recognizing that giving back strengthens the entire ecosystem and accelerates industry-wide progress from pilot projects to large-scale enterprise adoption.