The global pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of a tech-driven transformation.

To remain relevant amidst an increasingly competitive landscape, pharmaceutical organisations face mounting pressure to harness data to shorten development and delivery timelines, incorporate the use of SMART technology and increase the pace of innovation in order to secure better outcomes for patients across a range of diseases, while maintaining the quality of products.

In the first of this mini-series, we paint a picture of the current state of the market, exploring how technology is transforming the provision of care, prompting an evolution in the systems and science behind the development of vaccinations and laying a foundation for the latest ‘revolution’ in manufacturing.

Preparing for Pharma 4.0: Coined by the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE), Pharma 4.0 represents an evolution in which ‘digitisation and automation meet complex product portfolio and lifecycles.’ The vision is greater connectivity and transparency, enhancing the rate of innovation for the benefit of patients.

However, many organisations remain stuck in a state of ‘3.0’, in large part due to the nature of the pharmaceutical industry. In the production and distribution of medication, there is little tolerance for error, with regulation insistent on holding individuals accountable, should issues arise.

With a traditionally small risk appetite and in the absence of a precedent for combining digital devices, human-insight and conventional processes to guarantee product quality, the adoption of SMART technology has been slow.

COVID-inspired collaboration: The onset of a global pandemic prompted a waterfall of innovation across the pharmaceutical industry. In the race to produce a vaccine, resourcefulness trumped routine. Many companies hired aggressively, searching for specific skills to support the delivery of short-term projects.

A change in people was matched by an overhaul in process. The pandemic altered the nature of clinical trials, with restrictions on close contact prompting the uptake of tools, technologies and strategies to enable remote or hybrid clinical trials. Deploying wearables and sensors to track activity offered more accurate, timely and comprehensive measurements that reflected the full range of the patient experience.

As systems advanced, so too did the science, with the messenger RNA technology behind many of the COVID-19 vaccines entering mainstream thinking after decades of research. There is talk of a ‘bio-revolution’ which could transform the treatment of diseases across the globe.

A growing appetite for virtual healthcare: The rapid rise in telemedicine, prompted in part by the pandemic, is predicted to have a ‘domino effect’ on health technologies.

Tech-savvy populations are demanding greater access to their medical records to facilitate a more active role in the decisions surrounding their treatment. A care continuum that stretches beyond the walls of the hospital also offers an opportunity to tackle shortages across the health care profession. For pharmaceutical companies, digital tools offer scope to collect meaningful, real-world data on drugs' efficacy, safety, adherence and engagement.

Combining tech with tradition will need to be both seamless and secure, but for those forward-thinking pharmaceutical organisations who define their digital transformation roadmaps, improvements in patient engagement and experience across the disease management journey awaits.

The evolution of ‘whole health’: The impact of climate change continues to dominate conversation – and a similar story faces the pharmaceutical industry, as the interdependence between human health and the health of our planet enters the mainstream consciousness.

A climate crisis brings with it an increase in the rate of infectious disease patterns, the likelihood of extreme weather that prompts food scarcity and a drop in air quality, resulting in a rise in respiratory diseases.

With thousands of companies pledging or striving towards a commitment to ‘Net Zero’, the pharmaceutical industry is under increasing pressure to reconcile a commitment to regulation with doing what is right for the environment.

This is, however, no easy feat. Regulation, for example, mandates that paper leaflets must be included with medication. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted further difficulties with the storage and distribution of life-saving medication: the Pzifer vaccine had to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius, ‘colder than winter in Antarctica’.

Pharmaceutical organisations must take stock of their carbon footprint across the supply chain and consider how to create a greener future. Bio-based fuel, localised manufacturing and sustainable packaging are just a few of the alternatives gaining traction within the industry.

Final thoughts

Technological innovation is impacting all organisations, across all industries - and the pharmaceutical industry is no exception.

Prompted in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, a shift towards a world of real-time monitoring, dynamic clinical trials and virtual healthcare is well underway. As the pharmaceutical industry enters an era in which agility is fundamental, rather than favourable, organisations will need to become familiar with risk, ambiguity and change.

In Part Two of this series, we explore what lies ahead for the industry, as patient-centric care, precision medicine and sustainable supply chains offer exciting new opportunities. Central to shaping their direction in this new era of ‘Pharma’ will be an organisation’s response to workforce planning and management, as new technology requires reskilling, the onboarding of tech-savvy professionals and clear project management to enable and embrace change.

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