The outlook:

Many life sciences companies are currently showing a ‘need for speed’ as their focus is on driving R&D productivity. COVID-19 has facilitated the adoption of new processes originally used to expedite vaccines and therapeutic products, for the development of other drugs. Pharmaceutical companies expect to advance scientific breakthroughs and manufacture innovative products in an effort to fulfill unmet needs and stay ahead of the competition. Changes brought about as a result of the pandemic are shaping a new era in clinical trials. In 2022, pressures are expected to be on optimising processes to fundamentally change the drug development paradigm. By making the clinical trial process more convenient for enrollment and participation, industry leaders stand to gain better research results, fewer failed trials, and more trust from physicians and patients.

Key takeaways:

• As a result of the pandemic, many hospitals and health care institutions are revamping the clinical trial models. Researchers are finding new ways to bring more people into trials through new models that are decentralised, hybrid, and adaptive, and break down health inequity barriers and make them more inclusive.
• Digitisation is reducing patient burden and reporting subjectivity, while increasing outcome accuracy. In particular, research shows that decentralised trials (DCTs) that rely on remote strategies are showing return on investment and are here to stay.
• Hybrid trials are another growing solution to improve access to trials in remote locations. Researchers should be aware of the logistical difficulties that some necessary in-person provider interactions and laboratory tests may pose for some pariticpants.
• In addition to clinical data, genomic information and improvements in technology—like AI and quantum computing—are evolving the way life science organisations approach drug discovery and development.

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The outlook:

The global pandemic has been a game changer for providing improved patient care, more critical than ever before. It has accelerated the adoption of digital and virtual health, delivering more of what patients have been asking for—convenient and consumer-friendly health care. However, transforming clinical trials and patient services often requires catching up to other consumer experiences in the health care ecosystem. The technology today has raised the bar and patient centricity now has a new meaning. In 2022, it’s time to fully partner with patients. Life sciences companies and stakeholders should cultivate deeper patient relationships, moving away from short term relationships. Patients should be treated as longitudinal partners to better understand their disease, collect long-term safety and efficacy data, and improve care outcomes. The organisations that reimagine their business models and put the consumer-patient at the center, are likely to succeed in transforming the journey of care.

Key takeaways:

• As the stakeholders look for new ways to offer patients more meaningful experiences, they are evolving KPIs to better measure engagement and satisfaction. Patient engagement is an essential part of the R&D of biopharmaceutical products and disease management.
• The life sciences organisations should fully partner with patients to get insights into what patients’ preferences and needs are, what their current skills are, and how they can help us shape ourselves as companies and industries.
• Digital health, digital medicine, and digital therapeutics offer stakeholders an opportunity to create more personalised experiences and new ways to become patient-centric. In the coming year, life science and medtech companies plan to grow investments in digital capabilities for more personalised therapies and patient support.
• AI-driven engagement, connected patient, and health care provider platforms provide patients and partners timely access to relevant content and treatments. Biopharma companies must undertake purposeful digital innovation to provide life precision experiences.

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The outlook:

The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered society’s view of work. Organisations are now thinking differently about the workspace as a virtual place where team members gather when working digitally, and solve problems in the pursuit of organisational goals. The future of work is hybrid, with many organisations seeking to re-architect their digital workplace to more effectively support a higher level of synchronous on-site and remote work, but there are still challenges. The pandemic has caused some employees to feel isolated with remote work and also induced waves of people to quit their jobs, exacerbating the issue. In the coming year, many companies will continue to grapple with how to solve these issues. How are the life sciences organisations turning the “Great Resignation” into an opportunity for a “Great Re-imagination”? A new distributed work model coupled with a diverse culture, collaboration, and co-location will be a key to success.

Key takeaways:

Life science and medtech organisations should continue to be flexible in how work is done and how talent is sourced, trained, and managed.

Almost half of employees and a majority of millennials report they would give up some work benefits for a more flexible working space. Empowering workers to work from a location that suits them promotes a better work/life balance and a more equitable approach.

Deloitte research finds employee engagement—which is directly correlated with productivity—is at its highest among employees who spend 60-80% of their time working remotely. By harmonising technology and worker preferences, organisations can deliver a more flexible and meaningful talent experience.

Life sciences and medtech organizations need digital talent, software engineers, and data scientists who understand how to design a digital product and solution that meets patient needs.

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The outlook:

The pandemic has embarked a never changing impact in the life sciences regulatory landscape – by engaging in wide-scale collaboration, cooperation, and information sharing. The speed at which COVID-19 vaccines were able to be developed and approved through expedited regulatory processes was unprecedented, and the focus remained on safety and efficacy despite the speed. Actions taken by governments, regulators, and organisations during the pandemic accelerated innovation in products and supply chains and increased the adoption of new technologies and processes. In the coming year, regulators are looking to improve data integrity of real-world evidence and are expected to continue embracing digital technologies and sharing worldwide research.

Key takeaways:

Getting medicines to patients quicker is a priority for regulatory agencies as well as stakeholders. Tools such as Accelerated Approval, Priority Review, Breakthrough Therapy, Fast Track, and Rolling Submissions expedited approval of COVID-related vaccines and treatments.

International collaboration, focused mainly on creating clusters of technical experts, sharing research results, leveraging inspection reports, and disseminating information on how to help health care workers treat patients and stay safe, has never been as important to medicines lifecycle development as it has recently.

Finding ways to make drug development, manufacturing, distribution, and approval process timelines faster across the board is likely to save money, time, and resources—and most importantly, benefit patients.

Regulators are enabling changes that will contribute to speeding up the adoption of digital therapeutics – software-based products that provide clinical, real-world and, often, real-time evidence – with the United States, Germany, and Belgium leading the way.

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The outlook:

While COVID-19 has accelerated the growth of digital innovation over the last two years, CEOs remain optimistic that it will continue in the years ahead. But many biopharma executives still believe we need a better digital innovation strategy. For a more holistic and enterprise digital transformation (DX) in the life sciences sector, companies must scale digitalisation both within the company and outside the organisation to produce novel insights through DX partnerships. These companies will need to invest in agility, analytics, and automation. Without a plan for strategic use of data, tools are not likely to deliver the full value of digitalisation. And as biopharma executives address the urgency to take risks and make investments that will allow for more rapid innovation, they may also consider leapfrog digital innovation to gain an edge over the competition.

Key takeaways:

• Biopharma and medtech companies are expected to evolve from just doing digital—to being digital which means designing and implementing a differentiating digital strategy and incorporating it into the organisation’s DNA.
• Legacy life sciences organizations are being challenged by nimble startups. Digitally-native companies are digital across the board and are more cloud-ready and unlike traditional pharma companies, startups are likely to challenge the way things have historically been done.
• In the year ahead, life sciences companies are expected to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) more holistically into all processes—from preliminary research and clinical trials, to manufacturing, supply chain, and commercialisation.
• AI has the potential to expedite drug development, help companies launch and market products more effectively, and make supply chains smarter and more responsive. With robust data, the potential use cases for AI in life sciences are nearly limitless.

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The outlook:

Many transformation efforts begin with reinventing the operating model, and digital industrial transformation begins with strategy—including redesigning talent, transforming processes, and retooling technology. The ongoing pandemic requires not only mitigating risks, but future-proofing manufacturing and supply chains. Life sciences companies that deploy advanced data analytics capabilities and make the right investments to enhance their global supply chains in the coming year are likely to gain enduring competitive advantage and build resilience. In 2022, businesses that become product-driven should be in the strongest position to survive in the short-term and excel in the long-term.

Key takeaways:

• Life science organisations are starting to adopt product-driven operating models, which focus on the customer and patient experiences, which were historically successful for many technology companies.
• Biopharma and medtech companies are investing in fully digitising and integrating information technology and operational technology capabilities in manufacturing. The establishment of smart factories is leading this change by seamlessly connecting and integrating disparate manufacturing systems.
• There are four drivers of performance for life sciences companies to get the most out of smart factory investments – human performance, process performance, asset performance and network performance.
• Some life sciences companies are looking to minimise trade uncertainties and reduce customs taxes by rethinking operations and diversifying supply chains.

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The outlook:

The impacts of the environment and climate change are increasingly viewed as a growing financial risk—both in terms of a company’s exposure to impacts, as well as their contribution to increased global warming. It is important that companies measure and report on the results of their ESG efforts to live up to the purpose set for the enterprise. The temptation can be great for being seen as ethical, as this may drive profitability. But the risks remain, even if unintentional, with bad data and communication. Building trust is a vital pathway to demonstrating the true value that biopharma companies and the rest of the health care ecosystem bring to society, while also being accountable to shareholders and stakeholders. Investors and other players in the capital markets are elevating their expectations when it comes to a company’s ESG progress, and boards are expected to be responsive.

Key takeaways:

• By utilizing better data and analytics, life sciences companies can have a more systematic, quantitative, objective, and financially relevant approach to key ESG issues—providing ESG reporting with data integrity.
• The pandemic demonstrated that ESG factors with the most impact on life sciences include supporting innovation in medicines and treatments with the greatest need and improving access to life-saving innovation globally.
• Digital solutions for measurement and optimisation are a core component for a successful net-zero strategy. Some life sciences companies are setting ambitious.
• In the coming year, biopharma companies might consider working together on specific ESG initiatives and raise awareness of those initiatives collectively. This shall elevate the industry perception—as well as perception of individual companies.

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