2020_11_11_FAR_enfocado-mug

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the nervous system that affects the brain and spinal cord. It damages the myelin sheath, the material that surrounds and protects nerve cells, causing different symptoms. It is a chronic disease for which there is currently no cure. 

How to improve the quality of life of patients affected by this disease? Sara Pedraz, Innovation Manager at Merck, presented the challenge that the students of Master's Degree of management of Pharma-Biotech Companies had to face during the II Focused, held on November 5. In just over four hours they had to design a digital solution, aimed at young people who have just been diagnosed with MS, to help them better understand the disease and learn to live with it.

The workshop was organized jointly with the innovation department of Merck Spain and was divided into two blocks: a first part of immersion and empathy with the challenge and a second part of work collaborative. Throughout the workshop they had the financial aid of two people from Merck's innovation team who guided them through the ideation and prototyping process.

Finally, the students presented their prototype in groups to Paz Álvaro, Head of Digital Strategy and Chief Innovation Manager at Merck, who gave them feedback on their work and insisted on deepening the aspects they had learned during the workshop. All the groups agreed that they are more creative than they thought and that it is important to work as a team and listen to the ideas of others to achieve a common goal : to improve the lives of patients.