EU biopharma’s got talent?

Article | March 11, 2020

The pharmaceutical industry is set to greatly benefit from the use of artificial intelligence (AI), due to its wide range of applications. Sydney Tierney discusses how machine learning can enhance marketing, manufacturing and drug trials. Artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to nearly every aspect of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, to enhance data processing. Adopting the technology will reveal the astonishing potential of the healthcare sector, with success rates flying higher than ever before – especially in the research and development of crucial, life-changing drugs.

Article | March 6, 2020

Pharma has deep roots in human history with centuries of folk pharmaceutical knowledge offering a hit-and-miss range of natural remedies. But the industry as we know it today actually emerged in the second half of the 19th century when the world’s first factory for the sole production of medicines was found. By the late 19th and early 20th century, some chemical companies had already begun using research labs to explore the medical applications for their products. Fast forward to today and the pharmaceutical sector is a global trillion-dollar industry. However, to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs, the process of drug discovery and development is under extensive scrutiny and control on both national and global levels.

Article | April 10, 2020

The president and some of his close advisors — desperate for a COVID-19 cure — are asking “What do you have to lose?” by taking hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a strong medication never adequately tested for efficacy or safety in COVID-19 patients. The correct answer to the president’s question, which he doesn’t seem to want to hear, is that we have our lives to lose. The president acknowledges “I’m not a doctor” but this raises the question “What do doctors know about the drug recommended by the president? Most doctors are aware that HCQ can be effective for patients with malaria, arthritis or lupus. If they were to follow the president’s suggestion and prescribe it for COVID-19 patients, they would also like to know that it will benefit some of those patients, at least.

Article | March 26, 2020

If you’re part of a clinical study team racing a new product to commercialization, you likely live by these two simple rules: time is money, and the first one to market wins. But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. That ticking clock is background noise to the responsibilities of regulations, study protocols, supply chains, and patient recruitment — all the details that must be worked out before a study can even begin. The pressure is always there. The longer it takes for a study to start, the longer it takes to complete.