Accelerating pharma marketing: Two steps to break the MLR bottleneck
in 2 hours
Q4 was busy for the Crescendo team, but the Pharma CX event in Princeton, NJ, was a highlight. Crescendo's CTO, Jeremy Summers, and Mark Melton from partner Magnolia, took the stage to address one of the most time-consuming challenges for life sciences marketers: the complexities and delays in the regulatory review cycle.
The life sciences content bottleneck: Why speed matters
During the presentation, the team shared insights from a massive digital transformation project with Sanofi. Crescendo helped migrate 600 sites in just 18 months. While the project was a success, it highlighted a critical lesson: the bottleneck wasn't the website technology; it was the submission process.
As the team noted, "We can talk all day about how to create content faster, but if the MLR process adds weeks to the timeline, we aren't delivering on our promise."
Step 1: Streamlining the submission process
The core of the presentation focused on MLR Express, our dedicated tool designed to bridge the gap between Magnolia (the CMS) and the compliance platform. Jeremy and Mark highlighted the current "manual" workflow's challenges:
• Take full-scroll desktop screenshots.
• Take full-scroll mobile screenshots.
• Expand every accordion and carousel.
• Consolidate into a PDF.
• Upload to the portal, fill fields, and submit.
• Repeat steps 1-5 for every change.
MLR Express eliminates these steps. It automates screenshot generation (including mobile/interactive elements), bundles the assets, and pushes them directly to the compliance system with one click.
"
We distilled the content journey into a few discrete processes. But we realized that while creation is fast, submission is where agility hits a wall. MLR Express fixes that.
– Jeremy Summers, CTO
Step 2: Smart content reuse– why approve the same asset twice?
One of the most resonant points Mark Melton shared was the importance of the "Create Once, Publish Everywhere" methodology.
In a traditional workflow, if a safety warning appears on 50 different pages, the potential exists for the MLR team to review it 50 times. MLR Express formalizes this approach to ensure it works every time:
• Approved once, approved everywhere: Once a component is approved in Magnolia, it is flagged as compliant.
• Focus on what’s new: Reviewers only see new creative, not the boilerplate text they’ve already signed off on.
• Visual Status: See live/pending status directly in the CMS—no need to log into an external portal to check progress.
Key questions from our captive audience
1. How does MLR Express improve approval times?
It automates the submission process and removes manual PDF creation. We have seen it cut submission handling times by up to 90%.
2. Can I really consolidate my software tools?
Yes. You can retire separate screen-capture tools and PDF editors. You work in Magnolia; the system handles the rest.
3. How soon can we be up and running?
Days, not months. MLR Express is a connector designed to integrate rapidly with your existing architecture.
Moving forward
The engagement we saw in Princeton confirms that the industry is ready for a change. As we scale with major global partners, the need for speed has never been higher.
By integrating the power of Magnolia with industry-standard compliance platforms, MLR Express isn't just a "connector"—it is the key to delivering digital experiences faster.
Looking to improve your time to market?