As we head into the new decade, the question that everybody wants an answer to is, “What new will we see this year and what direction should my company head towards?”

The pharmaceutical industry is facing a myriad of changes. Therefore, to keep up with the competition, pharma companies continuously strive to anticipate and adapt to these changes. Businesses have to keep an eye on the pharma industry trends [1] in order to better understand the challenges they will have to face in the future.

Here are some key challenges [2] faced by the pharma industry:

• Expensive drugs: Increase in the number of cases of chronic diseases is causing a rise in healthcare budgets.
• Rigid policies: Doctors are under increasing pressure from healthcare policymakers about what to prescribe.
• Emerging market slowdown: Due to a slowdown in emerging economies [3] , lower GDPs of low-income countries have reduced their pharmaceutical growth prospects.
• Stricter regulations: International regulators, like the WHO, FDA, and MHRA are more cautious about approving new and innovative medicines.
• Value-based pricing: Pharma-economic performance is measured in evaluating the cost of new pharmaceutical drugs. Therefore, the price of medicines depends on drug affordability and performance in the real world.

Pharma Trends

Despite the complex challenges, there are several exciting pharmaceutical industry trends to look forward to in the coming year. Infiniti Research’s [4] pharma industry analysis reveals the following trends that pharmaceutical companies can prepare for:

1. Personalised medicine is making waves
   Personalised medicine, also known as ‘precision medicine’, refers to using tailor-made remedies to an individual’s need, based on his or her anticipated reaction to treatment. Most people use medicines designed for millions of others, but personalised medicine is soon expected to become one of the most favoured pharma industry trends [5]. Customised drugs will take some time to be fully functional, but it will provide better quality treatment because it is based on a patient’s medical test results and history.

   Already, there are real signs that personalisation will boom. Investment in personalised remedy has doubled in the last 5 years. The latest market studies predict the production of precision treatment options to show a 33% rise by 2025.

2. Prevention over treatment is preferred
   Preventive medicine is expected to be big in 2020, and governments worldwide are supporting the idea. Most people maintain that prevention is better than cure. [6] Most health studies show people are more willing to pay for preventive measures than for treatments.

   Prevention is better than treatment, especially in the case of chronic diseases. Global pharmaceutical industry analysts have revealed that there is surplus supply in prevention supplements available worldwide. If specific chronic diseases are incurable, then preventive measures may be able to reduce some of the medical symptoms and delay fatal consequences.

3. Reverse innovation is cutting costs
   Reverse innovation, as the name suggests, is innovation adopted first by emerging economies and then distributed globally. Today, it is a top 10 pharma innovation trend [7]. The pharma industry faces unique challenges, such as the increasing cost of research, patent expiration, and consequently, a lower profit margin. Additionally, there are huge costs involved in bringing a drug to market, making reverse innovation yet another cost-effective solution.

4. Nanotechnology is noteworthy in Nano-medicine
   Pharma industry experts believe nanotechnology to be one of the most impressive pharma industry trends. Scientists also think nanotechnology is a vital element of pharmaceutical sciences [8]. The process creates essence systems on a nanometre scale. One of the applications of this innovation is in ‘Nano-medicine’.

   An example of this innovation is an anti-cancer drug called Genexol-PM, which fights breast cancer and non-small lung cancer. Nanotechnology is one of the most remarkable recent trends in the pharmaceutical industry.

5.   AI partners with Big Data
   By now, everyone has heard about AI and ‘Big Data’. But, not everyone knows that Artificial Intelligence can solve a common pharma industry problem of drug discovery, which is lengthy and expensive. AI and cognitive computers can collect and classify large amounts of data in just seconds. AI, robotics and other advanced technologies can also help run cognitive trials more quickly, which means drug delivery to patients will be faster. According to Digital Authority,[9] “Artificial Intelligence and pharma can help save more lives than ever before”.

To Summarize, we think prevention over treatment, customised medicine, reverse innovation, along with nano-medicine and AI, would make breakthroughs in medicine, diagnosis, and genetic engineering. These pharma trends will make a significant difference by enhancing patient treatment and will shape the future of the global pharmaceutical industry. Healthcare professionals, too, can only gain from such innovative trends in the pharma industry.

What do you think of our pick of 2020 pharma trends? Leave your comments below.

Disclaimer:

Anzen Exports’ blog posts are based just on our research from cited websites. To be best informed, we advise consulting a doctor about an ingredient or medicine prior to taking it.

References:

[1] https://www.pharmaexcipients.com/news/top-10-pharma-trends-2020/
[2] https://www.infinitiresearch.com/tags/pharmaceutical-challenges
[3] https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/imf-warns-of-economic-slowdown-in-90-countries-india-to-be-hit-harder-1607351-2019-10-09
[4] https://www.infinitiresearch.com/thoughts/pharma-2020-key-pharma-industry-trends-watch
[5] https://tulip.co/blog/pharma-4-0/8-trends-in-pharmaceutical-manufacturing-to-watch-in-2020/
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9566447
[7] https://www.giminstitute.org/index.php/2018/08/21/trends-pharmaceutical/
[8] https://www.eurekaselect.com/134289/article
[9] https://www.digitalauthority.me/resources/artificial-intelligence-pharma/