No Going Back: Seven Trends Have Changed the Life Sciences Industry Forever

Navigating theCOVID-19 pandemichas been a once-in-a-lifetime challenge for the life sciences industry. According to Sadiqa Mahmood, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Life Sciences Business at Health Catalyst, the pandemic has broken down digital barriers, accelerated drug development, and changed the medical technology and pharmaceutical markets forever.

Seven Pandemic-Driven, Life Sciences Trends

Mahmood says that the unforeseen pandemic has had a significant impact on the entire healthcare sector, but especially on thelife sciencesindustry because of the responsibility to develop and release a COVID-19 vaccine inrecord time.

Although the vaccine is playing a pivotal role in the COVID-19 road to recovery, Mahmood suggests seven big-picture life sciences trends the coronavirus pandemic ignited:

#1: Building Partnerships

Traditional life science industry competitors (e.g.,Pfizer,Sanofi,Janssen, etc.), who typically withhold information from each other,came togetherto research, test, and release a vaccine in less than one year—instead of the average 10-year process. These pharmaceutical companies also played a pivotal role in producing medical devices, such as ventilators, and making essential medications available.

As a result of the above successful partnerships, Mahmood says pharmaceutical companies are challenging their previous processes, identifying opportunities to enhance efficiencies, and pursuing innovative partnerships post pandemic.

#2: Accelerating Digitization

COVID-19 accelerated the digital transformation of the pharma and medical technology industries, forcing both sectors to adapt their traditional in-person, onsite clinical trials process to a remote, decentralized approach.

The pandemic-accelerated digitization also forced regulators, clinicians, and patients to adopt remote monitoring solutions—includingtelehealth, wearables, and sensors—and electronic clinical outcome assessments. Leveraging these monitoring solutions allowed providers to drive patient engagement and collect morehealthcare data, as the pandemic limited in-person interactions.

#3: Shortening Vaccine Development Timeline

The pandemic shortened the development, review, and overall timeline for drug and vaccine market release. Regulatory authorities such as theEuropean Medicines Agencyand theU.S. Food and Drug Administration, accelerated their drug approval processes and expedited tools for emergency use, including rapid scientific advice, accelerated market authorizations, and compassionate use of certain drugs

Mahmood认为，数字应用(趋势2)加上COVID-19疫苗的成功，意味着监管机构很可能在未来的疫苗和药物审批中采用这些更快的流程，而不是回到大流行前漫长的药物审批流程。

#4: Expanding the Use of Real-World Data

Next, Mahmood says the pandemic expanded use ofreal-world data(RWD) collected outside of clinical trials. With access to more RWD, pharmaceutical and medical technology companies leveraged real-world evidence to inform drug development and drug use. The pandemic-driven need to access and share data forced the life sciences industry to break down data silos, mine RWD generated from disparate resources, and ultimately drive interoperability among multiple data sources. For example, the additional real-world information added immense value to rare disease studies, for which patient volumes are low.

#5: Scaling Cloud Platforms and Securing Data

The increase in data sharing through interoperability led to the next trend—rapidly scaling secure cloud platforms to connect cloud ecosystems across the globe. For example, organizations that relied on cloud platforms with basic data sharing capabilities scaled their cloud solutions to accommodate broader cloud computing from more data sources. According to Mahmood, organizations that had resisted scaling their cloud platforms no longer had a choice and had to get on board to access the critical data necessary to understand and survive the pandemic.

然而，越来越多的系统使用快速扩展的云系统来共享RWD，这使得数据面临更高的数据泄露风险，尤其是那些绕过适当的安全检查点以避免快速过程中延迟的系统。为了将数据泄露或盗窃的风险降至最低，组织应确保遵循最佳做法，如加密和限制接入点，并继续寻找保护其数据安全的机会。

#6: Improving Supply Chain Processes

Early in the pandemic, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical devices (e.g., ventilators) shined a light on healthcare’s reliance on trade and manufacturing distribution overseas. To decrease these foreign dependencies, organizations brought production back on shore in the U.S. and found ways to think out of the box. For example, U.S.-based manufacturers had to find ways to store vaccines that required specific conditions and specific distribution channels.

Since the pandemic, supply chain processes now incorporate technology, data, and innovation. For example, decision makers now use data and automated technology to follow real-time inventory for PPE and vaccine distribution. Innovative,improved processesallow providers to match the potential demand, identify supply bottlenecks, and recognize secondary sources to address shortages.

#7: Focusing on Health Equity

各组织更加注重在病人护理和临床试验招聘工作中实现种族和性别保健平等。Using data that more accurately represents different races and backgrounds allows the life sciences industry to develop drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and more to better understand and meet the needs of theirpopulations.

COVID-19 Propels Seven Life Sciences Trends Aimed at a Digital Future

While the pandemic triggered a short-term transformation in the life sciences industry, Mahmood says that the industry will see an accelerated digital evolution in the long term. The above seven data-focused, life sciences trends will continue to drive pharmaceuticals and medical technology companies and others in a data-centric direction that puts patients first.

Additional Reading

你想了解更多关于这个话题吗?Here are some articles we suggest:

• The Healthcare Research Network: 5 Modernizing Features
• Delivering Precision Medicine: How Data Drives Individualized Healthcare
• How a U.S. COVID-19 Data Registry Fuels Global Research
• Using COVID-19 Value Sets for Patient Identification
• Creating a Data-Driven Research Ecosystem with Patients at the Center