Pharma Industry and Digital Health: A Kaleidoscope of the Future

As the industry is transitioning from Pharma 4.0 to 5.0, it is experiencing a more comprehensive patient-centric system where the collaboration between humans and AI is highly appreciated. In other words, this digital shift is forcing organizations to embrace digital technologies like AI, digital twin models in drug manufacturing, and machine learning (ML), transforming their operations and boosting their capabilities. 

While these technologies are nudging the industry on one end, pharma companies on the other are finding it hard to adopt them. Most of them are experiencing the paradigm shift where smartphone applications, the cloud, IoT, and the cloud are being the catalysts. And it would be an underestimation if we don’t acknowledge the fact that it has already transformed the retail, media, and banking industries. Pharma decision-makers and executives are well aware of the disruptive potential and have started practicing a plethora of digital initiatives. Though it may sound positive, many are still finding it hard to identify which initiative should they be focussing on and how, as they are unclear on what digital success will turn out in the coming years. This is exactly what this article will address. 

Trends of Pharma Healthcare and What to Anticipate in the Future

• Result-driven care is becoming the focal point: Governments and payers are paying keen attention to managing costs while offering enhanced patient outcomes. This in turn is posing a bigger burden on pharma companies to exhibit the value of their drugs in real time. And this is pertaining not only to randomized controlled trials, they are also to strategizing for premium pricing and market access. In this scenario, digitally enhanced “beyond the pill” solutions are stealing the show. This is because the methodology involves not just only drugs but also sensors to analyze and gather data to monitor a patient’s condition between HCP visits. This is replenishing the needs of both parties. 

• Boost in patient engagement: The future of pharmaceutical industry will also see a healthcare format where the patients won’t be bothering the doctors/HCPs much. As of today, they are gaining confidence in their own health with smartphone apps and wearables catalyzing the scenario. 

• Emerging competitors in the market: The industry as a whole is no longer bounded by the traditionally established organizations. High technology companies such as IBM and Qualcomm Technologies are driving the industry towards operations powered by advanced analytics and NLP. This boosted the relations between patients and HCPs where the mediums are smart apps, health & fitness devices, online communities, etc.  

• Awareness in product performance: You can say that this is the continuation of the above scenario, where digital technologies have disrupted the way pharma companies used to disseminate data about the product to the target consumers. From online communities discussing patient welfare to the implementation of sensors and apps monitoring the impact of therapies, the sharing of healthcare data has never been more diversified. In response, enterprises will have to keep up with the new sources of evidence and hold the ground to be the primary source of authority on the potential of their products. 

• Drastic Enhancement in process efficiency and agility: Advanced analytics, automation of complex decisions, and sensors are bringing a paradigm shift in the speed, efficiency, and quality of business operations in all industries including pharma. To stay in the game, enterprises need to attain near real-time transparency of their clinical trials portfolio in R&D for instance, and seamless sales and operations strategies in the supply chain, as well as satisfying the expectations of employees, consumers, and patients in terms of efficiency and flexibility. 

Having said that, keeping the transparency in check, brand teams are treating RWE as a mode of staying ahead in the game. Teams with advanced RWE data are able to stand out in the market among their competitors. Some brands have been even allowed to get RWE-based messaging to depict class. 

• Personalized Care- Digital services and sensors for targeted results: Tailored care is at the focal point of improvement in this industry. With the advent of digital services powered by Big Data and sensors, it is hopeful. With time, many drugs will be a part of the digital revolution which will only operate towards monitoring patients and providing feedback to relative HCPs. 

Advanced data analytics that studies EMRs, including diagnostic outcomes, medication history, and genomic, and gene-expression data will assist in the identification of optimal therapies and in gauging the impact of patient treatments. 

• Omnichannel dialogue with patients and physicians & D2C Shipping: When it comes to the future of marketing in this industry, digitalization is the clear winner. Medical science liaisons, pharmaceutical sales reps, and patient-care teams are seeing to converse with patients and HCPs through smartphone apps, the Web, or Social Media. The industry is already witnessing patients who tend to access patient portals to stay updated about their health status, subsequently reaching out to their physicians and other mates who are suffering from similar diseases. 

Another trend that is expected in marketing is the D2C (direct-to-consumer) shipping/selling. Currently, enterprises are nudging the obesity market and are structuring a D2C shipping, ordering, and payment ecosystem for their obesity drugs. This is certainly going to expand into other patient categories once it is successful. 

• Complete data-driven pharma insights to enhance commercial value: To be specific, the future of pharmaceutical industry lay in the very wealth of data that it possesses in varied organizational and technical silos. Using external and internal data sources, enterprises can exercise analytics and tools to provide ultimate results-

• R&D teams practicing digital discovery and testing of molecules with advanced simulation techniques will be generalized. With time, sensor-data media from in-vivo clinical trials gathered by wearables will be accounted into registration filings to offer an early sign of real-world effectiveness.

• Prescribing behavior will be mastered by marketing a sales team through advanced analytics.

• HCPs and pharma companies collaborate and study data from clinics, insurance claims, laboratories, apps, sensors, social media, and more to establish real-world evidence about a drug’s potency, steering clinical practices and reimbursements. Anticipating the chances, it will be an industry where most care will be “convened” i.e. in which clinical decisions on the supreme treatment options are directed to physicians by an automated decision algorithm driven by advanced analytics. Payers will devise a new strategy for risk sharing and contracting for specialty drugs. 

• Adoption of automation to enhance costs, responsiveness, and prowess: From clinical trial management to employee onboarding will be severely influenced by advanced automation. For instance, patients participating in trial-focused online recruitment and remote monitoring technology (apps, connected devices, and sensors) will allow clinical trials to take place in real-world ecosystems so that they can resume their regular lives without major tweaks. 

Conclusion

The digital revolution will drive the most value for pharma companies in the near future. While the industry is embracing 5.0, it is high time that more enterprises stick to the ethical digitalization of operations. The decision-makers, on the other hand, should foresee the positive effects of digital innovation in their sector and make their products and services more personalized. Subsequently, advanced analytics should also be leveraged to bridge the gaps between patients and HCPs. This, in turn, will drive business operations more seamlessly. 

In response to that, companies need to dig deeper into the asks of these advanced technologies and then set the course toward a better tomorrow. A better knowledge of what digitalization has in stock for the industry will help pharma enterprises reach their destination with an improved commercial model and patient-centric care strategy.