Last month, ramarketing CEO Emma Banks sat down with Miranda Schmalfuhs, Pharmaceutical Commerce Magazine, to discuss a range of topics including her take on emerging trends and the current financial slowdown our industry has seen.?
- Companies have been onshoring more due to COVID-19, supply chain challenges, macro challenges, and regulatory expectations
- A hybrid approach of onshoring critical R&D functions and offshoring for scalability and efficiency is likely to continue
- The current slowdown in biotech investment is expected to tail off and show signs of recovery in 2024
- The biotech sector is resilient and expected to rebound due to increased R&D spend and pipeline growth
- The global biotech market is projected to grow significantly from $1.22 trillion in 2023 to $3.21 trillion by 2030
- New biotech companies can find partners to support asset development through equity upside or licensing agreements, reducing cash burn
- Grants can provide funding without impacting equity but require significant effort and can involve risks related to IP ownership
- Bootstrapping cost optimization, focusing on a single asset, and building relationships with the investor community are practical strategies
- Cell and gene therapies have significant potential but face challenges, including infrastructure costs for healthcare systems, high development costs, and pricing uncertainties
- Regulatory requirements and medical uncertainties, such as immune reactions and long-term effects, also need to be addressed
- Speeding up development, addressing infrastructure needs, and streamlining regulatory processes can enhance the accessibility of cell and gene therapies
- Long-term follow-up is essential to assess the safety and efficacy of cell and gene therapies
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have the potential to speed up drug discovery and development, improve accuracy, and enable better understanding and development of biologics and advanced therapies
- CRISPR gene editing has led to the first FDA-approved therapy for sickle cell disease (Cast CI V from Vertex Pharma)
- Synthetic biology has tremendous potential but also poses ethical challenges
- Omics and multi-omics provide a detailed view of living systems and can help identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets
- Other areas such as RNA therapeutics, microbiome, and nanotechnology offer opportunities
- Efficiency will be key for biotech companies in the coming years due to pressure on therapy pricing
- Outsourcing to specialist CROs or CDMOs may become more prevalent
- The practicality of deploying therapies in a healthcare setting is important
- Prioritizing promising assets, obtaining data quickly, and managing funding are essential
- Regulatory pathways need to become more seamless to facilitate drug development
- Flexibility in the supply chain, including onshoring and offshoring, is crucial to mitigate risks and ensure patient access
See the original post and video here.
