'To harness the full value of digital transformation there must be a structured methodology in place'

Cybage Software, a global technology consulting organisation is partnering with the life sciences organisation to spur a enterprise-wide digital transformation. Vivek Vig, Vice President – Healthcare and Life Sciences, Cybage Software outlines how IT and digital technologies will be crucial for progress in this sector and details how to harness the full value of these transformational technolgies and the role that Cybage can play in this tech-driven era, in an exclusive interaction with Lakshmipriya Nair

- Lakshmipriya Nair

As the pharma industry evolves to meet changing consumer needs and stringent regulations, tell us how will investing in IT and digital technologies become essential for sustenance and growth?

New age digital technologies can make immense impact on each step of the drug discovery process. We already see a lot of niche start ups trying out AI-driven solutions in the early drug discovery process specifically focusing on information aggregation, synthesis for target identification, deep learning strategies for compound screening, and lead identification.

Investing in IT and digital technologies will only increase the efficiency and reduce the time to market by using machine learning techniques for subject identification in the clinical trials, ensure deploying AI solutions on risk based clinical trial monitoring and intelligent interventions. Likewise, use of mobile platforms for patient engagement and data collection (e.g. apple research kit) will further enhance proficiency in the patient-reported outcome process.

Similarly, application of digital technologies will be prominently evident on other aspects of pharma industry including manufacturing and supply chain, regulatory compliance, marketing and outreach, human resources, finance, patient engagement.

What are the crucial steps to navigate and effectively harness the full value that digital technologies can bring to the pharma sector?