What impact does technology have on pharmaceutical advancements?
In the last few years, we’ve seen a massive period of accelerated growth in the pharmaceutical industry. If what we’ve seen so far is anything to go off, we’re in for a lot more, thanks to the impact of technological advancements in the pharmaceutical sector.
Technology such as Generative AI, The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and 3D Screen Printing are becoming mainstream and more widely adopted. Their impact is substantial, making pharmaceutical research faster, more efficient, and more accurate.
Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is facing a lot of challenges. However, thanks to the technological advances above, it should be in an excellent position to overcome them.
Generative AI
Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving at a rapid pace. While AI has been used in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, generative AI will transform drug development fuel efficiency and improve clinical trials thanks to automation, advanced information, and thorough optimization.
Large Language Models (LLMs) will improve understanding at a molecular level, increasing both the quality and speed of the early drug discovery process, which will ultimately help unlock new and beneficial therapies.
LLMs will also revolutionize how the pharmaceutical industry sets up and conducts clinical trials. LLMs will allow pharmaceutical companies to consider more diverse populations better, integrate datasets with genomics, and ultimately increase the success rate of trials by optimizing the clinical trial design.
Data is at the core of all significant pharmaceutical breakthroughs. Data-driven research will help uncover new breakthroughs and allow for better development of existing drugs and compounds.
The three core elements of data-driven research are:
Macro Data – This is a valuable component of developing solutions. Researchers use AI to shift through massive amounts of data and extract all helpful information.
Speed and Efficiency – With the proper guidance, AI will analyze data faster, more efficiently, and more accurately than humans, allowing it to focus on more relevant data while excluding irrelevant data and creating new insights.
Digital Simulations – Over 90% of all clinical trials will fail. This means that approximately only 10% of potential new drugs will ever make it to market. The reasons for this high failure rate include lack of clinical efficacy, poor drug properties, unmanageable toxicity, and poor strategic planning. Better data collection, planning, and implementation thanks to AI could significantly increase the success rate of clinical trials.
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
IoT is already a widely developed technology in various industries and is now being widely implemented in the pharmaceutical industry. The Internet of Things (IoT) describes a network between different components embedded with software, sensors, or other technology, allowing them to connect with one another and exchange data via the Internet.
The pharmaceutical industry will be able to capitalize on the IoMT by utilizing data collected by wearable devices such as heart rate monitors, blood pressure monitors, glucose level monitors, and much more. The more data collected, the better the monitoring and treatments will ultimately improve.
Thanks to IoMT, decentralized trials can be conducted, reducing barriers to entry, increasing access to trials, and providing a less intrusive and more convenient experience to patients in the trial.
3D Screen Printing
Another growth area in the pharmaceutical industry, which is expanding rapidly, is 3D printing, not just 3D printing of components.
The key components of 3D printing include the ability to fully customize dosage forms to personalize medications to suit an individual’s needs. Instead of getting the same pill as everyone else, 3D screen printing would allow you to get a specific dosage or even a fully customized release rate that works better for you.
Traditional drug production creates a ‘one-size-fits-all’ product, which, while beneficial for most patients, doesn’t benefit all patients. Patients with multiple illnesses or other underlying medical conditions require a more in-depth, customized approach to their medication.
You can learn more about the benefits of Patient-Specific Drug Formulations Through 3D Printing here.
3D printing technology will allow pharmaceutical companies to create personalized dosages that are customized to a specific patient’s needs, customized pill shapes, release rates, and dosage strengths.
Thanks to this level of drug customization, patients will experience more precise drug delivery and better therapeutic outcomes from the drugs they take.
Some of the other added benefits of 3D screen printing include:
Reduced manufacturing, packaging, and shipping costs thanks to the ability to localize printing directly to patients.
Greater customization of pharmaceutical products that better suit patient’s needs and improve customer satisfaction and therapeutic outcomes.
A more environmentally friendly product thanks to less impact on the global supply chain.
The ability to print QR codes directly to pills improves security, reducing the risk of counterfeit medication and improving medication tracking throughout the supply chain.
Speed, Efficiency, and Accuracy
By all predictions, 2024 will be an extremely significant year for the pharmaceutical industry, and thanks to technology such as Generative AI, the IoMT, and 3D Printing, we expect to see a lot of medical breakthroughs previously thought out of reach.
At the center of this pharmaceutical revolution is the patient, and ultimately, it’s the patient who will benefit thanks to safer and more effective therapeutic treatment, more access to medical care, and more personalized medical treatments..
Laxxon Medical is dedicated to engineering patented 3D pharmaceutical solutions that optimize products and benefit patients. Our goal is to establish SPID®-Technology as a manufacturing process with the individual and the pharmaceutical partner in mind.
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