Precision medicine represents new era for drug development

New strategies are needed to help bolster precision medicine initiatives, according to a new report.

The report, sponsored by Medidata, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Bristol-Myers Squibb, features opinions from 301 senior life science executives, 84% of whom consider precision medicine to represent a new era in drug development.

One in three noted investment in IT systems, changing strategic and scientific mindset, and changing how products and services are commercialised as the top three barriers impacting the success of precision medicine. More so, two in five of those surveyed recognise how unified data strategies and access to real world data are key to precision medicine initiatives.

The report goes on to mention how patient-centred approaches require data from a variety of sources, including sensors, wearables and real-world data, and that integration, preparation and analysis are needed to derive actionable insights.

“The big opportunity to become more efficient and generate better evidence comes from using digital platforms to connect people in new ways. That requires investing in bigger, more sophisticated systems, which is not an easy thing for a company that traditionally makes siloed decisions. It’s not just the cost of the IT; it’s the organisational change management involved,” said Glen de Vries, co-founder and president, Medidata Solutions.