2020 was anything but an easy year for our global community. Shaken economy and strict social distance restrictions inevitably led to shaken hope during the first and second pandemic waves. With all eyes on pharma companies regarding vaccine development and weathered by the crisis, the software development industry paved the way for digital transformation and helped secure business continuity, which was more crucial than ever. 

Working in a bespoke software development company experienced in developing custom solutions for healthcare and pharma, I have the opportunity to see the great impact technology has on these sectors firsthand. The increasing cost pressure, legislative regulations, decreasing product valuable lifetime and strong inside competition are just some of the factors contributing to the urgency of tech innovation in pharma. Alongside client-centricity and the ever-rising market demands, it is high time for companies that want to stay relevant to revise their business models and incorporate valuable tech assets into their digital supply chain. 

Why is the Pharma Sector so Crucial? 

Hardly anybody would question the importance of the pharmaceutical industry, especially after a year full of fierce competition among pharma companies to discover an effective Covid-19 vaccine. Above all, the discoveries of the pharma sector satisfy our deepest human need: to survive and prolong life, and any digital tool that directly assists pharma companies in achieving these objectives is more than welcome. 

On a process level, the global pandemic enormously accelerated digitalisation. With remote calls being the tip of the iceberg, traceable multi-channel communication is in demand right now. Among other things, software is a great facilitator of these ongoing changes. Keeping in mind the changing consumer needs, the transformed communication between pharma experts and medical doctors, the quest for effective digital services and products is easily understandable. However, primary healthcare specialists such as pharmacists also benefit from software solutions to serve patients better, e.g. by having access to a digital health record/passport with any existing health conditions, allergies or medication history can help them individualise their advice. 

Pharma Transformations in the Last Decade

The pharmaceutical industry has come a long way since the wholesale manufacturing practices in the mid 19th century. Back then, breakthrough discoveries of different types of tissues and various signal methods led to the development of new drugs such as epinephrine, ephedrine and amphetamine. However, the invention of the computer and all its practical applications was the ingredient that changed this industry (and many others, too) forever. Ever since computers became mainstream, massive amounts of data flood the online space, and these need to be stored and managed properly so computers can serve us efficiently. 

This is precisely why pharma companies need reliable software solutions throughout each developmental stage. For example, this Healthcare IT News article from 2007 gives a comprehensive overview of the evolution of pharma systems over the past decade. With patient safety as a main driving force, IT systems began to care about eliminating error-prone processes, integrating large 3rd party databases and automating inventory and delivery.

Collaboration Tools in the Spotlight 

The main objective during the harsh consecutive lockdowns last year was to secure business continuity. As a reaction to the struggle to stay in touch and remain competitive, many companies developed new approaches not only to sustain but also to boost the whole pharma ecosystem. With the number one pharmaceutical goal for 2020 being vaccine development, collaboration was a key strategy for streamlining the processes and utilising the most of modern technologies. 

Thankfully, the remarkable digital potential accelerated all development stages, including testing, regulations and government authorisation. Every step of the way contributes to the final goal and software solutions that handle daily administrative tasks, monitor potential EMA, FDA, and MHRA compliance issues and drastically increase the success rate of new drug discovery. 

AI Mission: Discover New Active Ingredients 

Finding new active ingredients is anything but a simple venture. For further clinical research, the new active ingredient must be processed in a suitable dosage form into a drug, the test product. This process of pharmaceutical technology or galenics runs parallel to clinical research because researchers need to find the optimal drug dosage in clinical studies. A drug’s absorption and distribution in the body, as well as its route to the site of action, can be altered and controlled by its dosage form. With a more tailored drug form, adverse effects can be reduced or perhaps avoided entirely. However, a novel active component isn’t the only option to reinvent drug research, so it’s important to look at how existing ingredients can be combined in a new way. 

Current technological advancements and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) enable researchers to recognise biological activity in natural substances and design better drugs. In fact, some very realistic use cases of AI can even go as far as discover brand new drugs, including orphan drugs, which are medications for rare diseases: a big step forward towards improved health. Through continuous data mining, in-depth analysis, algorithms ‘learn’ and help us humans shorten the drug discovery period and make informed data-driven decisions. 

Most Recent Innovations in Pharma Software

Having reached abundant tech capabilities, one milestone that pharmaceutical companies still have to tackle is their connection with other industry players. Industry 4.0 or the digitalisation of industrial processes and patient-centricity have a tremendous influence when it comes to the design and purposes of today’s pharma software. Leveraging cloud and edge computing, 3D printing, Big Data, AI, ML and blockchain allow businesses to grow even in challenging pandemic times.

If experiments with open-source medicine continue, we might be on the verge of many new scientific discoveries. In 2020, Oxford University experts used a Diamond Light Source synchrotron to unravel Covid-19 molecular code and shared the knowledge into an open-source domain, prompting vaccine discoveries. Meanwhile, other tremendous tech-driven pharma innovations such as hyper-personalised medications and anti-ageing drugs (senolytics) also shape the future face of pharma. Internet of Things has now moved past physical devices outside the human body to give rise to the Internet of Bodies. This concept is expected to pave the way for many industry disrupters to leverage health-related data to individually design swallowable pills and wearables to help patients with their personal health management. 

Author Biography Aleksandrina Vasileva Aleksandrina is a Content Creator at Dreamix, a custom software development company, and is keen оn innovative technological solutions with a positive impact on our world. Her teaching background, mixed with interests in psychology, drives her to share knowledge. She is an avid reader and an enthusiastic blogger, always looking for the next inspiration.