Words by GOLD newsdesk
Artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data are projected to have the greatest impact on the pharmaceutical industry in 2022, according to a new report from GlobalData.
‘The State of the Biopharmaceutical industry 2022’ highlighted the two emerging technologies as having the potential to be the most disruptive to the sector over the next 12 months, strengthening the same trend seen in 2021. Technologies such as cybersecurity, robotics, cloud computing and blockchain also appear in the top 10.
“The more data AI ingests, the more accurate and efficient it can become,” said Urte Jakimaviciute, Senior Director of Market Research at GlobalData. “Competence in these tech areas is vital for healthcare companies, as they provide improved patient care at a micro level and, more broadly, drives a higher level of insights and trends that benefit operational and clinical efficiency.”
Leading pharma companies are already embracing the potential of AI, with demonstrable productivity improvements and efficiencies in drug development. Further investment in 2022 proves this is only set to increase, with examples including:
Sanofi and Exscientia establishing a strategic research collaboration to develop AI-driven pipeline of precision-engineered medicines in the oncology and immunology spaces
BenevolentAI and AstraZeneca agreeing on an expansion of their AI-powered drug discovery partnership to include systemic lupus erythematosus and heart failure
The University of Oxford’s OxDX raising £2.6m pre-seed funding to develop AI-powered rapid diagnostic technology, aiming to improve the speed, cost and accuracy of infectious disease diagnostics.
GlobalData’s report also revealed that drug pricing and reimbursement will continue to hinder the growth of the pharma industry in 2022. “This is most likely due to the increase in drug prices being scrutinised by governments due to the need to contain healthcare spending, control inflation, and offset borrowing booms caused by COVID-19. This will create a greater need for payers to put control on prices and implement reimbursement constraints,” Jakimaviciute added.