Big data and AI offer massive opportunities to the pharmaceutical industry — in theory. In reality, many companies are struggling to realize the potential of these tools. Some organizations have been hesitant or resistant to leveraging the technologies. Others may have attempted to embrace them early on but are now beginning their second or third…
Why legacy data management systems can’t support the directions biopharma is headed
Earlier this fall, the FDA detected potential issues in data generated by two contract research organizations (CROs). Specifically, the agency’s statement noted “significant instances of misconduct and violations of federal regulations, which resulted in the submission of invalid study data to FDA.” Accordingly, the agency advised that all affected sponsor organizations repeat any bioequivalence and…
An inside look at GSK’s digital twin initiative
Digital twins, functional computerized models of physical objects, are a staple of smart manufacturing. Their use in the pharmaceutical industry, however, is still in an early phase. GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) is one of the first pharmaceutical companies to announce a digital twin initiative. Partnering with Siemens (ETR:SIE) and Atos (EPA:ATO), GSK has created a real-time simulation of…
Building a new foundation for oncology clinical trials
COVID-19 disrupted oncology clinical trials. More than a year into the pandemic, drug developers and regulators, including FDA, are also looking for ways to catalyze clinical trial innovation with AI and other tech. The FDA has been “vigilant as they always are to make sure that there is strong science, but they are much more…
What’s driving the natural language processing revolution in pharma and life sciences
Pharmaceutical and life sciences companies are faced with a constant stream of new data flowing into often siloed information systems. About 80% of that information exists in unstructured text that is difficult to extract and use, despite its paramount importance in driving clinical and commercial outcomes. As a result, these organizations find themselves increasingly overwhelmed…
IBM, Teva to Use A.I. for Drug Repurposing Program
IBM’s artificial intelligence program Watson is diving deeper into healthcare. The computing giant and Teva Pharmaceuticals announced on Wednesday that they were taking their ongoing health partnership into new territory. First, the companies formed a three-year research collaboration aimed at using human input, real-world data, and machine learning algorithms to support drug repurposing efforts, wrote…