Diogu Rau in this article ‘Digital Tools are Key to Advancing the Tech Revolution in Pharma‘ published on the Pharma Executive discusses the role of technology in the advancement of pharmceutical development. Rau (2023) describes technology as a life-saver during the COVID-19 pandemic as it ‘is an engine of innovation, integrated throughout the enterprise to accelerate advances in discovery and innovation’ which can fast-track the understanding of new diseases, how do they impact the body and what could be remedies to the disease.

Through having the right leveraging of the digital tools, scientists can ‘have the power to develop and discover models of new and existing molecules that warrant further research as potential new medicines’ (Rau, 2023)  in a relatively short time compared to the long, tedious and labourious process of testing. He postulates that through machine learning (ML) scientists can have 3D models of the most promising molecules that can leading to the most effective medicine. Digital tools enable researchers to have real-time monitoring of the health status when testing with new medication leading to digital biomarkers changing the way how clinical trials are conducted.

Such remote monitoring changes the speed by which research can be done, cutting down travelling and time necessary for multiple clinical trials. It also can diversify more easily and quickly the types of trials conducted. Moreover, once a medicine is approved there could be continuous monitoring of the therapeutic development improving the same medicine. This could be done through platforms called ‘sensor clouds’ which enable scientists to ‘data and analytics experts to access the most appropriate information more efficiently, leverage ML, and create algorithms that better reflect a patient’s disease journey. The industry can then translate that data into information patients can use immediately—empowering them with connected apps and delivering a patient-first approach to their care.’ (Rau 2023)

Such technological change can revolutionises pharma through faster and more efficient clinical trials, discovery of new medicines and empowering the role of patients.

______________________________________________________________

Bibliographic Information

Rau, D. (2023). Digital tools are key to advancing the tech revolution in pharma. Pharmaceutical Executive, 43:02:25.