Tech talk: Pharma's move towards tech collaborations
In this latest editor's desk, Reece Armstrong looks at the importance for pharma when collaborating with the tech industry.
Collaborations across the pharmaceutical industry are nothing new. Regularly, we see companies, big and small team-up so that knowledge, portfolios and intellectual property can be shared. Think of the start-up being acquired by the pharma giant because of its promising therapeutic. Or the biotech with an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that can sift through data in the search of promising candidate medications.
Pharmaceutical companies are always on the search for new talent. The intensive time and costs associated with drug discovery and development often mean it’s easier, or at least from a business perspective, less risky, to invest in promising companies that bring with them a wealth of knowledge or a therapy with encouraging data behind it.
You only have to look towards the coronavirus pandemic and the University of Oxford, who decided to collaborate with AstraZeneca, so the pharmaceutical company could help develop and distribute the university’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Whilst these types of collaborations are fairly standard across the industry, new opportunities are emerging for companies who are willing to look outside of the umbrella of life sciences. Now, pharmaceutical companies are looking towards the technology industry to assess how they can work together. Indeed, in this issue alone we cover how pharmaceutical companies are utilising technologies in the search for better working practices and even to position themselves at the forefront of infectious disease breakouts.
If there’s one thing that’s stood out to me within these stories, it’s that data is becoming a defining factor in helping pharmaceutical companies move forward. The pharmaceutical industry isn’t short of data, but factors such as patient privacy and access continue to act as obstacles to companies wanting to make better use of the years of historical and clinical data they’ve amassed.
Anonymised clinical data means that it’s very difficult for pharmaceutical companies to extrapolate on anything outside of a specific set of questions. For instance, this means that companies wanting to understand how a therapy is performing once on the market may not be able to see if there are any underlying factors affecting adherence.
Real-world data which can be linked to clinical data will be key for pharmaceutical companies wanting to gain a better understanding of how and if their products are working for patients. However, with tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Apple all entering the healthcare sector, the pharmaceutical industry may be on the back foot when it comes to amassing and analysing real-world data.
Collaborating with technology companies outside of pharma will be a priority for those wanting to get a step ahead of the competition. If not, a world of new and emerging opportunities could be missed.