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Pharma first started using artificial intelligence in the clinical and development space, but over the last two years, the industry has expanded its use, according to Sandy Donaldson, cofounder president and chief of strategy of Impiricus, a health technology company that provides an AI-powered engagement platform.
Over the last two years, AI has been used across the pharma life cycle in manufacturing, lab operations and supply chain management, said Donaldson, who works with 30 of the top pharmaceutical companies.
What has also increased is government oversight. Despite a lack of a framework at the federal level, there’s an increased need for transparency in the U.S. at the state level and from the EU, and these are becoming more stringent, he said.
“What we’re seeing is an increased focus on government controls, explainability of decisions, traceability of audit trails and there’s going to be increased regulation on these new areas within pharma that are starting to embrace AI,” Donaldson said.
In good news for pharma, patients, providers and for rest the healthcare, AI should decrease the amount of time it takes to bring a new drug to market, which may also lower its cost.
For more, listen here to Donaldson’s conversation with Susan Morse, executive editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Talking Points:
AI will help reduce the cycle to bring drugs to market and get drugs to patients faster
AI can bring better accuracy in drug development
This means more orphan drugs may come into the market
There may be more drugs for the thousands of chronic diseases that go untreated
Because of strict regulations, it’s hard for pharma to embrace new technologies and new ways of working
The “Not Invented Here” syndrome has the mindset that “we already know how to do it best”
Pharma companies know they need to change their culture
More About this Episode:
Pharma leading payers, providers in AI adoption
How AI can shrink UAE's drug discovery timelines
AI implementation within Pharma
AI and technology triggering a $1 billion shift in healthcare
AI driving uptick in venture capital investment in healthcare
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org