The pharmaceutical industry has been experiencing exponential growth, not just in the area concerned with scaling businesses and the market but also in developing effective diagnosis when it came to many diseases. One such field that is proving to be the main driver for economic growth is 'biotechnology.' With Covid running rampant and showing no signs of slowing down even at the end of 2020, biotech firms have worked tirelessly to respond to this severe emergency; today, we have the Pfizer vaccine that is claimed to be 95% effective.
Similarly, where there is progress with great results benefitting humanity, pharma faces several challenges. Let's look at them in detail, so we can have a clear idea of what is hindering pharmaceuticals' growth.
Considering it is the end of 2020, these challenges still prevail and will follow us well into 2021. A silver lining that we can count on is the cutting edge technology like AI, ML, and Blockchain.
Challenges Faced by the Pharma Industry
1. Scientific Growth in Medicine Production Remains Stagnant
The productivity had become the bane of big pharma that has become comfortable in whatever processes they were following for the past few years when it came to the research, development, and production of new drugs/medicine. Considering how humans have evolved and the diseases that have several variations emerging, the pharmaceutical industry isn't doing much to update their drug discovery processes to meet the changing winds head-on.
With that being said, one cannot expect a certain sudden wave of productivity to sweep the entire industry. They start being active in refining their drug discovery, research, and production processes, ensuring the creation of more potent and better drugs.
However, that is not the case, and it will take some time before this industry finds the right tools and resources to get the ball rolling.
2. Struggling to Keep Up with the Technology
With studies on human genomics, the possibility to treat people with personalized medicine has become a possibility. The treatment of Alzheimer's with gene cutting and the addition of a healthy gene is also underway. Not only that, there are better technological developments that have made physical disabilities a lesser inconvenience.
Furthermore, the mass collection of data has become relatively easy with wearable Technology, including Apple watches. This will and is, helping clinics and labs conduct their research that requires large sets of data for study and analysis. Not to mention, nanotechnology could collect the data in ways that weren't possible before – take PillCam for an example.
The Pillcam is a capsule with a miniature video camera attached to it; this allows you to keep track of the inside and record data while it passes through your small intestines and such. It transmits the picture, and the test can take about 8-9 hours to complete.
Of course, there is much that is happening on the front related to tech and medicine. With medicine directly induced through nanoparticles within the bloodstream could also become the pinnacle of revolution.
However, suppose the healthcare industry fails to keep up with the fast progression of Technology. In that case, traditional medicine will get the chance to swoop up the market that is not ideal, considering that conventional ways are not compatible or relevant in treating modern diseases/health issues.
3. Product Liability
The problem with medicine is that it usually comes at a high price, considering the many resources that went into its production. However, although the pharma industry works tirelessly to bring in a newer and much more effective medicine within the market, the high price making it inaccessible to the masses defeats the entire purpose.
FDA has urged pharmaceuticals to reduce their price in order to make them affordable for the patients. Unfortunately, there is a catch; if they do make their drugs affordable for the consumers, this will also mean less time allocated in testing the drug, ultimately increasing the risk of not just patient safety but also regulatory risks with unforeseen and unanticipated results that may or may not pose a threat to a person's health.
4. Prevention is Better than Cure; Governments Shift Focus
Governments who have been paying large sums of money into the big pharmaceutical companies have realized trying to invest in preventing the diseases further rather than paying billions of cash to devise expensive drugs.
This poses some degree of threat to the pharma companies because if the government focuses on prevention methods and less on the research and deployment of the medicine and processes, pharma's growth can be hindered.
There are many more threats that loom largely over the present and future of pharmaceuticals. However, the industry can bank on its experts and industry veterans to guide them where needed in order to stay on the right course; a course that dictates quality production of medicine, compliance with the rules and regulations, and streamlined workflow. For this, top life sciences consulting firms have been on top of their game in helping not just the established firms but also the upcoming med-tech firms.
http://www.nieuwamsterdamadvisors.com
|