Aaryan Rana (3)
I am an experienced digital marketing analyst with a passion for data-driven insights, optimizing campaigns, and driving business growth with 3years exp.
AT A GLANCE
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Pharmaceutical
research and development is steadily going on the path of digitization and the
companies that can leverage this digital transformation will be ahead in the
curve.
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R&D digital
transformation is not a goal; instead, it is a journey wherein companies would
need to strategize their moves for an effective result in terms of cost
reduction and manage quality criteria of the medicine.
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R&D constitutes a
significant portion of pharmaceutical expenses and by automating, optimizing,
and expediting processes through digital technology, pharma companies can turn
the corner and get better outcomes of the research.
The pharmaceutical industry relies
on R&D and clinical research for drug development and efficacy testing. The
core of pharma operations lies in the research that goes behind formulating,
testing, developing and researching a drug. That’s the reason that the R&D
costs in the pharmaceutical industry are in the higher stratum. Companies, both
large and small, are searching for one answer- how to reduce cost in the pharma
industry? Many experts believe that they need to start with R&D digital
transformation in pharma companies. This will not only effectively cut down the
excess costs but will also save time and labor.
While
going digital is inevitable, many pharmaceutical companies are not yet fully
equipped to undergo this change.
Even today’s clinical trials have changed, and the pharmaceutical industry
needs to cater to this rather personalized, targeted healthcare system. By
adopting digital tools and artificial intelligence for faster and more accurate
R&D, Pharmaceutical companies can achieve much-needed improvement in
tracking test results and performing trending and analysis. Digitized systems
also help save pharmaceutical research and development costs by reducing the
human effort and error rate in extrapolating the data to adjust ingredients
better while producing samples.
According
to Investopedia, pharmaceutical companies spend, on average, 17% of revenues on
research and development (R&D), making it one of the biggest spenders in
this area.
So it is essential to look at some
of the ways pharmaceutical and life sciences companies can leverage the latest
digital tools and technologies to minimize expenses and maximize R&D
efficiency.
5 Digital Strategies for Pharmaceutical Research and
Development
1.Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Identifying Drug Molecule:Identifying a drug molecule for a particular
ailment and synthesizing it can take years of research and trials in the lab.
However, scientists can run data through systems and identify the potential
molecule/s and their plausible effective dosage within a short time with
artificial intelligence. AI tools can also help devise the chemical formula and
method of synthesis for these molecules to be synthesized entirely from scratch
in a laboratory under controlled settings.
2.Using Predictive Analytics for Drug Discovery and Development:Like AI tools, predictive analytics software
can be a boon for scientists looking to cut down pharmaceutical expenses and
improve their outcomes. With predictive analysis, scientists get to know how a
particular molecule or combination of different ones behave in the drug, how
long they will take to be effective, and what percentage of ingredients will
impact the drug’s potency and life. This will help in deciding drug dosage, its
schedule and efficacy.
3.Streamlining Drug’s Regulatory Timeline:Pharmaceutical R&D works in close
collaboration with the regulatory bodies to get the drug formulations approved.
This involves much paperwork, which calls for time and effort. Digitization can easily create
efficient methods of running operations without compromising regulatory
requirements. Automated workflows will avoid slowing down your
progress and expedite your ability to go to market.
FIGURE 1:Pharma R&D:
Digital Transformation Elements
4.More Efficient Selection of Volunteers/ Patients for Clinical
Trials:The current Covid-19
pandemic has seen clinical trials at a break-neck speed and a large scale
across various countries globally. Such speed and scale would not have been
possible without leveraging digital technologies to select the most appropriate
candidates for the trials. Digital databases can also analyze and prepare
best-matched trial samples of the patients to represent diverse age-groups,
ethnicities and even people from various socio-economic backgrounds. Such a
varied and well-matched selection can yield better and more all-encompassing
results.
5.Bridging
the gap between pharmaceutical R&D and academia:R&D and academia go hand-in-hand. However,
the lack of correct avenues has created a gap between these two research
bodies. This data (non-confidential) can easily be made available to academic
institutes and even research organizations for further insights and value
generation with digitization.
Apart
from these strategies, pharmaceutical companies can also leverage digital
technologies to streamline their supply chain and
optimize operations to effectively support their R&D. The R&D digital
transformation journey is not an easy one as it has many challenges and
setbacks. However, pharma companies must keep in mind that the long-term
benefits of digitization strategies are plenty. With the right roadmap,
pharmaceutical R&D can become less resource/ revenue-intensive yet more
effective in terms of outcomes.
Key Takeaways
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While pharmaceutical
companies are keen on applying digital technologies, there needs to be a
strategy in place for effective implementation as per the companies’ customized
requirements.
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Pharma executives and
decision-makers will need to look at digitization as an ongoing journey and
prepare themselves for internal resistance, technical challenges and more.
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Going digital is
indeed the need of the hour, and pharma companies need to strategize their
R&D infrastructure accordingly.
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