How Will Technology Affect Drug Development?

Technology is continually playing a vital role in medicine and drug development. However, while the future may look slightly space-age with robot surgeons and 3D-printed organs. A closer look showcases some lesser-known technologies making waves in medicine and drug trials.

A recent survey by GlobalData highlighted that around 70% of respondents think industry-leading changes will involve smart technology. Explore the emerging trends below:

AI and supercomputers

Supercomputers are not a new concept. However, the speed and performance of this technology are beneficial for performing data-intensive tasks and complex scientific calculations. In 2021, the US company NVIDIA launched the UK’s most powerful supercomputer, Cambridge-1.

This technology has immense potential to optimise each stage of drug development. This will also enable pharmaceutical companies to take drugs to the trial stage quicker and more efficiently.

The use of high-tech solutions during research and development has numerous benefits, including:

• Running cost-effective drug trials
• Improve insights and analysis for business strategy and development
• Collate more health data for future use
• Effective allocation of resources
• Improve patient communication and engagement

Machine learning and data analytics will improve innovation

Data analytics and machine learning are two distinct technologies that can revolutionise medicine. Each contributes to streamlined tracking and data collection. This method also uses big data sets to identify patterns in clinical trials to improve development and response to results. This data also enables companies to predict patient responses and analyse them more efficiently.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology

This field of artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, and growth in the AI software market is following suit. Pharmaceutical companies are now looking at this technology to accelerate and enhance clinic trials. For example, NLP can identify markers within a dataset to get the right expertise to recruit the best patient set for a trial.

Real-world evidence used in vaccine development

The concept of real-world evidence (RWE) is nothing new. However, it has mainly been used to analyse health records over the past few years. But, RWE is now contributing to clinical research and development in more recent applications. This technology monitors the effectiveness of vaccines in patients and identifies the progression of diseases. It was most notably used in studies on Covid-19 vaccines and is expected to feature in vaccine development in 2022 and beyond.

The future of drug development

While the pandemic had a stark impact on pharmaceuticals, it also prompted a call for innovation and development for a number of key trends. Technology plays a vital role in this, and the sector is embracing its influence.