Global Pharmaceutical Industry And The Future of Drug Discovery beyond 2021

Ever since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the stage was set for the pharmaceutical industry to demonstrate its resolution for the human race. With the fusion of human instincts and modern technology, it is for the first time in world history that a vaccine has been developed within a year.

But how was the process of vaccine development, which otherwise takes decades to reach the finish line, was accelerated?

The answer to this question lies in merging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning with the process of drug discovery and development. By achieving the phenomenal feat of releasing the vaccine within a year, everyone is asking the same question- how will technological innovations change the landscape of the pharmaceutical industry?

More importantly, what would be the scope and challenges of drug discovery in the light of new innovations?

To cover all of your queries, we would first talk about technological innovations in the field of drug discovery and development, followed by its scope of evolution and challenges in the future.

Technological Innovations in Drug Discovery & Development:

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have revolutionized the process of drug discovery and development.

With the ability to process colossal amounts of data, AI would help in streamlining the tasks related to biomarker discovery, outlier identification, and the creation of synthetic control arms (activities concerned with drug discovery and development).

The efficacy of using these technologies was proved last year where Machine-Learning systems were used to draw insights relating to understanding the structure of the COVID-19 virus and anticipating which of its components would provoke an immune system.

In other words, it can be said that by using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the process of drug discovery and development, costs and timelines would get reduced and the ultimate by-product from the preclinical CROs would be better and effective drugs.

Scope of Evolution:

By inducing technological innovations into the drug discovery and development processes, one can say that the scope of evolution for the pharmaceutical industry is broad and extensive.

For instance, earlier, pharmaceutical companies would not consider investing and finding the cures of rare diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s as its ROI would not cover their costs.

However, through AI-driven technologies, several pharmaceutical companies are now focusing on finding a cure for these diseases. Thus, it can be said that the pharmaceutical industry can now enter into new doors, something which was not feasible in the past.

Another way through which AI is widening the scope of evolution of the pharmaceutical industry is by bridging the gap between patients wanting to participate in clinical trials and pharmaceutical companies, through virtual clinical trials or with the help of a contract research organization.

Challenges to Drug Discovery and Development:

While technological innovations and the scope of evolution of the pharmaceutical industry does seem upbeat and optimistic, it doesn’t mean that the industry won’t encounter any challenges in the future:

• Compression of the timeline for drug discovery and development through technological innovations would bring more complexity, leading to making more decisions. Since human decision-making isn’t evolving with technology, there might be a difference of opinion on how to move forward with a decision.

• The current IT infrastructure of most pharmaceutical companies is not developed to run an AI mind. Hence, they cannot store huge chunks of data and lack the power to process it effectively.

The Bottom Line

Overall, the future of the pharmaceutical industry and drug discovery and development is bright. By integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the pharmaceutical industry would be able to create safer and effective drugs that would be backed by data-driven decision-making.