In 2023, there are going to be numerous factors that will influence the life science sector, in turn forcing leaders to re-evaluate existing practises and put in a lot of investment when it comes to innovation. Climate change, COVID-19 and also a rapid artificial intelligence evolution have all transformed the playing field and the life sciences setups now, must modernize as well as digitize so as to keep up with the pace.
AI Adoption Facts
The pharma sector spends around $100bn on research and development every year. Companies are always looking for options that can help their costs come down, whether it be through intellectually going for the right mergers and acquisitions with biotech’s to fasten the process or increasingly investing when it comes to AI.
The fact is that in 2023, AI has in it to save pharma companies tens of millions by helping the medical affairs team pinpoint and introduce more capable options in the existing processes. The pharma sector’s increasing reliance on AI when it comes to the discovery of drugs is pretty much evident in the spending trajectory. Apparently, it has been forecast that the life sciences’ spending on AI will touch the $3 billion mark by 2025.
Besides the AI-led discovery partnerships between pharma companies and AI start-ups have also seen a rise from only 10 that were there in 2015 to 105 in 2021. The fact is that with only 10% of contenders reaching the point of clinical development, AI may play a very important role as a solution to a meagre success rate such as this.
No wonder Pharma’s elevating interest in AI was pushed further by the digitalization that was witnessed during the pandemic, with 82% of the industry leaders believing it to continue at an unstoppable pace. The pharma companies have to act strategically and quickly to stay ahead when it comes to competition as the sector passes through the digital revolution phase.
Efficiency Focussed
One of the major inefficiencies that the pharma companies must deal with in 2023 is the enrolment in clinical trials. Almost 85% of the trials are delayed when it comes to issues based on enrolment, and although this may depend on the nature of the trial, there are quite a few hurdles for the life sciences setups to overcome. Besides, the issues don’t just end here as once the patients enrol themselves, the trial retention rates happen to be poor with statistics showing that 30% patients drop-out because of negative non-clinical experiences.
Apart from this, just 5-10% of eligible patients are aware of the studies that are available for them, and there is an estimated $800 billion in value lost every year when it comes to clinical trials, as 19% end much earlier because of a lack of participation. To aid with enrolment as well as rate of retention, it should be a possibility that the life sciences companies stress on decentralised clinical trials. Making use of these technologies will help trials become more patient-oriented, thereby making it easier for patients to register and continue with their participation until the time the study concludes.
Diversity Increase
There is an increase in diversity that is firmly on the agenda for 2023, with 61% of pharma firms saying they have set long-term goals themselves to enhance clinical trial diversity, thereby addressing serious under-representation of women, elderly people, as well as people of color. Although people of colour account for 39% of the total US population, only 2–16% of patients in the trial make up that demographic.
Even though, there are many steps that pharma companies must take in order to rectify this issue, tech can help drive better diversity within the trials. The technologies that the life sciences companies can embrace so as to remove the participation barriers include AI and social listening. AI-led natural language processing aids in trial teams identifying more quickly the concern areas as well as trending topics to analyse information when it comes to key demographics. It is well to be noted that virtual asynchronous engagement helps in saving patients hours of time and also doesn’t give them inconvenience by allowing them to be a part of some aspects of clinical trials in places, they think are convenient and comfortable. Although increasing diversity in clinical trials may be a good thing to look into, it might increase the revenue from innovation by 45% in an ever-increasingly competitive market.
As 2023 looks to be the year of AI, digitalization, and expensive R&D, life sciences companies ought to be implementing the exact technologies in the right places so as to stay ahead of the herd.
