At PHUSE US Connect 2026 in Austin, PointCross Life Sciences’ Rahul Madhavan, alongside collaborators from Merck Group and Daiichi Sankyo, led a hosted session on “Building a Better MDR” and introduced the soft launch of an industry-first white paper.
What began as an observational critique of spreadsheet-based standards management evolved into a broader vision – creating a comprehensive reference guide for pharma and CROs to manage operational and standards metadata in the age of AI. The session highlighted the growing need for active Metadata Repositories (MDRs) to support governance, traceability, version control, and the management of rapidly evolving standards across therapeutic areas.
The white paper represents over eight months of collaboration with 70+ contributors from leading organizations, including GSK, AstraZeneca, Gilead Sciences, IQVIA, ICON plc, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck Group, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Veramed.
During the session held on Monday, March 23, attendees engaged in discussions around key industry challenges, including:
- Defining the true scope of an MDR and the boundary between standards and operational metadata
- Establishing a practical “Single Source of Truth” with effective governance models
- The shift from passive to active MDRs as a foundational governance philosophy
- The role of MDRs as the semantic backbone for AI-driven workflows
- Introducing a 5-level MDR maturity model to assess organizational readiness