The AI And Digital Health Future Of Pharma: Prescription For Change

Over the past decade, our lead researcher, Dr. Bertalan Meskó, has delivered hundreds of keynote speeches to leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide. As The Medical Futurist, he spends his days mapping out the future of healthcare, a complex and fascinating task. And while his work covers all facets of medicine, from regulation and policies to clinical work, research, and technological development, the pharma sector is probably the one he has spent most of his time on in the past 15 years.?

Major current digital health and AI trends in pharma

Over the years, he has identified some clear trends that will shape the future of the pharmaceutical landscape. Some of these trends are unmistakably on the horizon, others present a more speculative glimpse into what may come. In this article, we will explore both the obvious and the less certain impacts of the digital health and AI revolution on the pharma industry - as seen in 2024.

Using AI in low-risk, high-ROI fields

One of the most promising applications of AI in the pharmaceutical industry is in low-risk, high-return-on-investment (ROI) fields such as:

• drug design,?
• drug repurposing,?
• and clinical trials.?

In drug design, AI algorithms can analyse vast datasets to identify potential drug candidates more quickly and accurately than traditional methods.?

Bristol Myers Squibb has partnered with Exscientia to use AI for small-molecule drug discovery. The collaboration will use AI to accelerate the discovery of small-molecule therapeutic drug candidates in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology & immunology. The company also announced a collaboration with Sanofi in 2023.?

Merck forged AI drug-development collaborations with American-Israeli biotech company Biolojic Design and with U.S. company Caris Life Sciences. In September 2023, the company started working with U.K.-based AI specialists BenevolentAI and Exscientia, aiming to significantly reduce drug discovery timelines - The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2024.?

Clinical trials alone are a vast field for AI, we recently analysed this segment and listed examples of how various algorithms can be used in pre-trial assistance, how they can support trials, and what they can do after the trials. Tools like CRISPR-GPT can help us automate trial designs. In-silico platforms can predict real-world results with high accuracy. Novadiscovery’s jinkō predicted the results of an AstraZeneca trial with about 97% accuracy before the company published the results. And it took three weeks to design, one hour to execute - and had a cost of a couple thousand dollars.

Here is an excellent confirmation that AI-generated drugs can indeed perform well in clinical trials. "In Phase I, we find AI-discovered molecules have an 80–90% success rate, substantially higher than historic industry averages. In Phase II the success rate is ～40%, albeit on a limited sample size, comparable to historic industry averages."

Using generative AI to enhance company processes

Pharmaceutical companies are not only using AI to discover new therapies but also to optimize their internal operations. Roche, for instance, has introduced RocheGPT, an internal generative AI chatbot designed to streamline repetitive tasks, help intra-team knowledge sharing, and augment analysts’ efforts by analysing scientific articles or clinical test results and then extracting structured data about therapies and patients.?

From patient centricity slowly to patient design

The traditional pharma landscape has often operated with a paternalistic "we are making decisions about you" attitude towards patients. However, this dynamic is gradually shifting towards a more collaborative "we are making decisions with you" approach. This evolution is driven by the growing recognition that patients are not supposed to be just passive recipients of care, but active members of their health team.

Patient design involves patients as co-creators in the design and development of healthcare solutions. And this is certainly something the vast majority of patients want. In the past decade or so, policy makers started adopting this theme too. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched the Patient Engagement Advisory Committee in 2017. The committee provides advice to the FDA commissioner or designee on complex issues relating to medical devices, the regulation of devices, and their use by patients.

This shift is long overdue. After all, patients are the ultimate "customers" of healthcare, and their experiences and needs should be at the forefront of every decision.?

Automating the supply chain

The pharmaceutical supply chain is undergoing a significant transformation through the integration of robotics, AI, and blockchain technology. These advancements streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and ensure greater transparency and security.?

For example, robotics can automate repetitive tasks such as sorting, packaging, and labeling medications, minimizing the risk of human error and freeing up personnel for more complex tasks. While fake drugs are increasingly becoming a problem all over the world (yes, in developed countries too), technology offers ingenious answers.?

Blockchain-based identification of each box provides a secure, immutable ledger for tracking the provenance and movement of pharmaceutical products, ensuring traceability from production to patient delivery. But we’ve seen other creative ideas, such as printing tiny, edible, all-protein unique watermarks on individual pills.

Investing in digital therapeutics

Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly recognizing the potential of digital therapeutics (DTx) as a complement to traditional medications. DTx are evidence-based software applications designed to prevent, manage, or treat medical conditions. They offer a personalised, scalable, and accessible approach to healthcare, and pharma companies are investing heavily in this emerging field.

Roche, for instance, was an early adopter by acquiring mySugr, a leading diabetes management app, to enhance its portfolio of digital solutions for patients with diabetes. Similarly, GSK partnered with Propeller Health, a digital therapeutics company specializing in respiratory diseases, to develop and commercialise digital solutions for patients with asthma and COPD.?

Launching (and sometimes closing) digital health units

“If you're not in, you're out” best describes the sentiment most pharma companies have about the digital health revolution. Many market players decided to establish dedicated units focused on developing and commercialising digital solutions.?

Bayer, for instance, launched a new unit to develop precision health consumer products, while AstraZeneca started a health tech business to integrate AI into its pharmaceutical offerings.?

However, not all ventures are successful, and some companies have even closed down their digital health units. Biogen, for example, recently shut down its digital health unit and ended its collaboration with Apple on a digital health app for Parkinson's disease.

Let’s see the future!?

All the trends we’ve discussed so far are already here, happening around us, even if the transformation might be slow or almost invisible in some cases. As progress won’t stop, we can also pinpoint a few advancements that are not yet here, but will surely arrive in the next few years.?

In-silico trials and artificial patients

Imagine a world where clinical trials don't involve recruiting thousands of patients, don’t take years to finish, and don’t cost billions of dollars. This is the promise of in silico trials, where digital representations of human biology are used to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs. While still in its early stages, in silico trials also have the potential to help identify potential safety concerns earlier in the process, potentially sparing patients from unnecessary risks.

As we mentioned in the first segment of the article, we see the first studies, but we are not yet capable of actually executing trials this way. Significant challenges remain, including the need for more sophisticated models of human biology and regulatory acceptance.?

Despite these hurdles, in silico trials represent a tantalizing glimpse into the future of drug development, where virtual simulations could complement or even replace traditional clinical trials.

Another interesting and futuristic concept related to the topic is the idea of artificial patients. (An artificial patient is a set of data representing the desired human characteristics the best possible way that is based on large amounts of real patient data, without actually including any backtracable real-patient data.)?

One day, virtual patients might become the go-to tools for estimating efficiency and potential side effects of promising drug molecules or optimising the use of existing ones, to model the success rate of future medical devices or treatment methods, or, as the latest, they can substitute the placebo control group for clinical trials.?

As many hope, one day artificial patients may be able to completely substitute humans and animals in clinical trials, most likely with animals being the first.?

Leaving digital transformation behind

The phrase "digital transformation" has been a buzzword in the pharmaceutical industry for years. However, as digital technologies become increasingly integrated into every aspect of pharma operations, we may be entering a post-digital transformation era.

In this new era, digital tools and technologies are no longer seen as separate initiatives, but as fundamental components of the pharmaceutical landscape. AI, machine learning, and data analytics will be seamlessly woven into drug discovery, clinical trials, marketing, and patient engagement.

Pharmaceutical companies that thrive in this post-digital era will be those with a mindset where technology is not just a tool, but a catalyst for innovation and transformation. This will require a fundamental shift in culture, processes, and organisational structures. It will also require a willingness to experiment, take risks, and continuously adapt to the ever-evolving digital landscape.

In the pharma-future, digital technologies can’t be just add-ons, but the foundation of delivering value to patients.

3D Printing Drugs

The technology for 3D printing drugs is at an exciting stage of development, with several approved drugs and ongoing trials. Aprecia Pharmaceuticals' Spritam, approved by the FDA in 2015, was the first 3D-printed drug designed for epilepsy patients.?

FabRx, a UK-based biotech company, is conducting the first pediatric clinical trial of 3D-printed medicines in Europe, to explore the efficacy and customization of 3D-printed medications in real-world healthcare environments.?

While the technology is still nascent, the potential of 3D-printed drugs to transform the pharmaceutical landscape is undeniable. If pharmacies could print customised pills tailored to an individual's specific needs, taking into account their age, weight, metabolism, and even genetic profile, this could revolutionise medication adherence and efficacy, as patients receive precisely the right dose in a form that's easiest for them to take.

Moreover, 3D printing could enable decentralised drug manufacturing, allowing medications to be produced closer to the point of care, potentially reducing costs and improving access in remote or underserved areas. While regulatory and safety hurdles remain, 3Dp-rinted drugs represent a futuristic trend with the potential to make personalised medicine a reality for millions of patients worldwide.

The Medical Futurist team keeps a close watch on the news of technologies and innovation in the pharma sector, reporting on all significant developments across our social media channels and providing in-depth analysis right here on our website.