Frost & Sullivan forecasts the global healthcare & life sciences industry to hit revenues of $2.8 trillion by 2025, with some of the top life sciences growth coming from multi-omics blood tests, RNA-targeted therapeutics, at-home clinical trials, and digital therapeutics. (1)
Another group out of the UK listed several trends they are expecting to see this year, three of which are IT-driven innovations that will impact the life sciences sector: decentralized clinical trials, artificial intelligence, and personalized medicine. (2)
MIT also conducted a study to explore the future of many of these changes: (3)
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- scientific research and development
- public health preparedness, science, and technologies
- science communication; disruptive technologies
- flexible and resilient manufacturing, supply, and distribution chains
These represent just a few areas where digital transformation is taking place across the broad life sciences sector. Change is happening at every biotech level imaginable: research, clinical trials, communications, manufacturing, distribution, and treatments.
And these transformations are initiating digital makeovers at every infotech level conceivable, too: data collection/storage/analysis, applications, systems, networks, clouds, security, and privacy.
More services require more connectivity and result in much more data. One area that proves this is AI storage: a requirement commensurate with the shift in computing and analytics. AI storage is introducing changes that will force organizations to look closely at data sources, data processing, data governance, and data talent. (4)
The need for cloud speed and scale
The case for cloud in life sciences is intense and takes its business value beyond the traditional cost-savings and operational efficiencies originally pitched with the cloud. (5) Cloud computing may end up being the only material path to true success in life sciences: “Cloud computing will dramatically accelerate the rate of biological discovery, writes Markus Gershater.” (6)
Organizations operating within and in support of this sector will have a lot on their hands as their look to embrace these changes, not just for revenue’s sake, but for better patient care all around.
Citations
1 – “ Top 10 Growth Opportunities in the Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry,” InForney/Frost & Sullivan, January 2022
2 – “Five Life Sciences trends for 2022,” Bristows LLP, January 2022
3 – “Life Sciences SUPerMInD,” MilliporeSigma/MIT, December 2021
4 – “AI storage: a new requirement for the shift in computing and analytics,” Information Age, Accessed January 2022
5, 10 – “The case for cloud in life sciences,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021