The Life Sciences sector is at an inflection point. To prepare for the future and remain relevant in the ever-evolving business landscape, biopharma and medtech organizations will be looking for new ways to create value and new metrics to make sense of today’s wealth of data.
As data-driven technologies provide biopharma and medtech organizations with treasure troves of information, and automation takes over some mundane tasks, new talent models are emerging based on purpose and meaning. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning approaches within life sciences is making drug discovery and development more innovative, time-effective, and cost-effective.
The 2020 Deloitte Global Life Sciences Outlook takes a detailed look at the factors driving these changes and outlines suggestions on how biopharma and medtech organizations can aspire to find real value for themselves and their shareholders in the coming year. It also provides leaders with key questions and actions to consider in the year ahead.
While advances in technology appear to drive more efficiency, biopharma and medtech leaders should look to more deeply understand ways to increase value and meaning for workers, patients, and ecosystem partners. Cultivating human strengths—for probing data, curating information, and asking the right questions— can help humans work with technology to think exponentially.
In order to be successful, leaders should look at how jobs can be redesigned around human-machine collaboration—that enhance workers’ capabilities and augment human abilities. Emerging technologies, meaningful work, and flexible work models could lure the next generation of talent that has the potential to create more value.
Medtech companies have the potential to drive efficiencies and tackle challenges by applying solutions such as IoT, machine learning, additive manufacturing, and augmented reality. A new breed of AI startups is leading the way on how new drugs are being developed.
Competition for AI talent will likely be fierce, and biopharma companies should not let traditional thinking and legacy cultures put them at a disadvantage. Emerging technologies could also positively drive change throughout each stage of the supply chain—leading to enhanced value to patients.
The commercialization of gene and cell therapies comes at a time of wider drug price scrutiny from policymakers and the public. In 2020, drug pricing, health care expenditures, and market accessibility will likely continue to be the main concerns.
Patient-centered platforms and consumer health apps are now collecting more data, but there is confusion regarding which entity or individual owns that data. With a widespread access to valuable patient data, can organizations overcome the challenge of maintaining trust? In 2020, medtech companies will continue to face competition from consumer technology companies and new care models. Pharmaceutical firms’ environmental and social performance is also increasingly coming under scrutiny by stakeholders, including investors.
Between 2019 and 2024, worldwide prescription drug sales are projected to have a positive CAGR of 6.9 percent with sales expected to reach US$1.18 trillion. However, uncertainty remains regarding drug pricing in the world’s largest market, the United States. Other challenges include risk due to patent expiration, increased clinical development spend for cardiovascular disease, decline in antirheumatics, and lower investments in R&D as a proportion of sales.
Tech giants are disrupting medtech and becoming a direct competitor. Also, downstream pricing pressures, stringent regulations, and operational inefficiencies due to industry consolidation are forcing many medtech companies to implement effective cost reduction strategies to remain competitive.
2019 global life sciences sector outlook
2018 global life sciences sector outlook
2017 global life sciences sector outlook
2016 global life sciences sector outlook