Data Science and AI in Pharmacy — 6 Ways to Drive Innovation & Value

Introduction

Leading pharmaceutical companies, start-ups, and researchers are incorporating Data Science, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) into research and development to analyze large amounts of data, find patterns, and create algorithms to explain them. With less human involvement, AI is getting better at problem-solving, predictive analytics, and innovation. Hence, AI has the potential to bring R&D scale processes to the industrial scale for biopharmaceuticals while also ensuring patient safety.

Finding patterns in data and creating new datasets after using the various techniques as information is directly related to machine learning (ML). The information will be taken into consideration for improvements in the pharmaceutical industry's production of drugs and vaccines, as well as being taken into consideration as a helpful input by scientists for the development, testing, and safety aspect of novel vaccines and drug molecules.

Data Science and AI in Pharmaceutical Companies: 

• Accelerate drug discovery and development

According to a 2013 Forbes analysis, the cost of bringing a new drug to market is approaching $5 billion, and many blockbuster drug patents have expired or are about to expire. As a result, anything that can speed up the drug discovery and development process will be extremely beneficial. The ability to intelligently search huge data sets of patents, academic articles, and clinical trial data should speed up the discovery of new medicines by allowing researchers to look at the outcomes of earlier tests. They should be able to focus on the important information and gain insight into the potential directions that will produce the best results by applying predictive analytics to the search parameters. 

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• Optimize and enhance the efficacy of clinical trials

Pharmaceutical companies want to ensure they have the right mix of patients for a given trial because clinical trials are expensive and time-consuming. By analyzing demographic and historical data, big data can help with patient selection for clinical trials, remote patient monitoring, analysis of previous clinical trial outcomes, and even the early detection of potential side effects. According to global management consulting firm McKinsey, big patient data could also assist pharmaceutical firms in considering additional factors, such as genetic data, in helping firms identify niche patient populations to speed up and lower the costs of trials.

• Target specific patient populations more effectively

Pharmaceutical companies are better equipped than ever to investigate the underlying causes of particular pathologies and understand that one treatment approach does not, in fact, work for all patients thanks to information from genomic sequencing, medical sensor data (devices that, for example, can be worn and track physical changes in an individual during treatment), and electronic medical records. For a variety of reasons, patients with the same disease or condition will react to treatments differently from one another. Drug companies can develop more specialized treatments for patients who share certain characteristics by sifting through the data from these various sources and identifying trends and patterns.

• Better understanding of patient behavior to enhance medicine administration and efficacy

Pharmaceutical manufacturers can now gain much more insight into current patient behavior thanks to increased data that businesses can access, including data from remote sensor devices, combined with sophisticated analytical models. In order to increase treatment effectiveness, the business can use the data to create services catered to various demographics or patient populations who are at risk.

• Improve safety and risk management

Pharmaceutical firms have been considering how to use this type of unstructured data more efficiently as signals from various sources, such as social media and Google searches, can act as an early warning signal about issues with product safety.

• Gain improved insight into marketing and sales performance

Due to increased competition from generics, Big Pharma is becoming more tricky about analyzing and enhancing effectiveness in its sales and marketing operations. Analyzing data from social media, demographics, electronic medical records, and other data sources can help identify new, niche, and underserved markets. Additionally, pharmaceutical companies can gain an advantage over rivals by analyzing the success of their sales efforts, gathering customer feedback from visits, and effectively utilizing it.

Conclusion

Today's fastest-growing and most in-demand industries are biopharmaceutical and data science, which are driven by need, problem-solving, and knowledge gaps. As a result, the information in this article will assist in tagging the thrush areas of biopharmaceuticals and inspire aspiring researchers and scientists. Those with knowledge of data science tools are employed in any department of the biopharmaceutical industry. Interested in making a career transition to data science and AI?Gain profound knowledge on AI techniques with the best  data science course in Pune, where students can engage in real-world projects designed by tech leaders.