It’s in the room – but will it bring your innovations to market quicker?

Within the pharma industry, the need to maximise profit margins all the while launching essential pharmaceutical products on to the market as quickly as possible has become a critical driving force. Traditional drug development has always been a very slow, expensive process, often taking many years and billions of pounds to bring a new drug or treatment to market.

This has been exacerbated by not only the highly competitive nature of the industry, but also demand for drugs continuing to increase year on year (due to such factors as an ageing population globally, the rise in chronic diseases and greater awareness and destigmatisation of mental health issues, to name a few).

Today, corporate leaders acknowledge that innovations are needed at a quicker rate to achieve success. However, surviving a highly demanding, competitive future requires the right people with the right tools to formulate the novel ideas that can be developed into winning implementation plans.

To deliver successful outcomes, pharma companies need a wide range of tools, both technological and strategic, at their fingertips. One of the most innovative technologies to be tried out by the pharma industry is AI, which has started to have an impact across the entire value chain.

AI powered tools can analyse vast data sets to identify potential drug candidates, predict a drug’s likely efficacy rates and personalise an individual’s treatments, all leading to more efficient and effective research and development.

Machine learning models can help in designing more efficient preclinical and clinical trials by simulating different scenarios, as well as predict how different compounds will interact with biological targets, thereby reducing the need for many costly and time-consuming trials and lab experiments.

This only scratches the surface of the possibilities AI can achieve for the pharma industry, making it very well positioned to be taken advantage of in the longer term.

However, there are pitfalls to be aware of where AI has either caused significant issues or has taken longer to implement due to restrictions elsewhere. Incomplete or biased data can lead to incorrect predictions or conclusions.

In addition, there is currently a lack of regulatory guidelines for AI-based tools that often delays the approvals process. AI systems used in drug development or clinical settings must be validated rigorously to prove they are reliable, reproducible and clinically meaningful.

Regulators are also concerned about the algorithms used by AI, as accuracy is critical no matter what part of the process it is being used for.

Alongside these issues, there is what can be a sizeable investment requirement based on the need for the right infrastructure, talent and training to use AI to its fullest potential. The skills gap and workforce impact can be added to this, not only in terms of a shortage of professionals with expertise in AI, biology and pharmacology, but also the risk of job displacement where certain roles could become automated, which can cause resistance from within and therefore have a negative impact on the wider organisation.

With the end game being to ensure patient safety, these potential pitfalls will need to be managed carefully if AI is to be implemented successfully.

Across the pharma market, the disparate nature of teams and the ability for associates to effectively communicate and coordinate innovations has become a key factor in the fight for market share.

Harnessing bright ideas, bringing together people’s experiences no matter their job function, using the right tools and making quick and effective decisions – all these critical steps should not be forgotten when getting innovations to market.
In my work with pharmaceutical teams over the last 34 years, I have heard a lot about the need to implement more digitally oriented tools, especially in more recent times.

Whether it’s AI or digital training to name a couple, all have their place, and certainly should be implemented on the basis they will add value, but my advice to company leaders is to start with your people, across functions as well as across regions, and bring together what they can co-create with you as part of the innovation process.

By enabling participation from the best thinkers, regardless of time zones or schedules, pharma companies can bring together diverse insights that will drive smarter decisions. Successful outcomes should be based on every function, whether local, global or virtual, being able to work in unison to collectively make high stakes decisions at the right moment.

To undertake this significant exercise, pharma companies should enable a collaborative space to be developed for all relevant staff members to be included within.

By having a platform that enables collaboration across the company, no matter where they are located, this will help everyone align on the decisions that help shape the product and market appropriately. This will also enable tools like AI to be used in a cohesive way, without duplication of either task or someone’s time.

With data showing that more than half of pharma professionals feel that time-depleting admin obstructs opportunities to make meaningful strategic contributions, activities that address the need for clearer strategy and stronger cross-functional partnerships among teams to allow for this process are a necessity.
This will also help to resolve other key challenges often cited including disjointed systems and conflicting goals, all resulting in wasted efforts and missed opportunities within a backdrop of fierce competition.

By providing a space where teams can collate and transfer knowledge, innovate and make crucial high-stakes decisions, pharma business leaders will find that it is easier to maximise market impact when people are working together.

However, it’s not just about accelerating time-to-market. By streamlining processes that empower talented teams to develop life-changing ideas, pharma companies can completely transform patient access, experience and outcomes.

We understand that a large proportion of pharma leaders report an understanding of precisely why their business strategies are falling short, with poor strategic direction and misuse of tools like AI being towards the top of the list.

Creating a unified and winning strategy across multiple stakeholders, regions, departments and markets is a challenge that many in the industry would like to resolve. Defining a clear route to commercial success in the most efficient, quickest period of time is ultimately what pharma companies would like to tackle.

To resolve these issues and more, my advice will always be to bring purpose-driven teams together into a collaborative space to create strategies that enhance patient access, experience and outcomes.

Janice MacLennan is CEO at Nmblr