Digitalization is reshaping the pharmaceutical industry: AI helps pharmaceutical companies develop, digital tools enable marketing innovation

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In the traditional impression, pharmaceutical companies are large and cumbersome, and their organizations and functions are rather bloated. But in fact, pharmaceutical companies are using digital tools to change their research and development and marketing methods, in order to streamline the organization and workflow, make drugs faster, and manage enterprises efficiently, so that enterprises can operate freely.

The use of digital tools by pharmaceutical companies is reflected in the three aspects of technology, data and processes. Through innovative technologies such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, the Internet, and artificial intelligence, innovative drug development models reduce the time and resource costs of new drugs; efficiently acquire and manage data, provide data support for internal management and external marketing; optimize organizational structure and Workflow to create a superior management system.

The healthcare industry is embracing new technologies

New technologies and applications have sprung up, including sensors, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, big data, and more. Human beings are entering the third era of technological revolution, and productivity and production relations are being dismembered and reconstructed.

The foundation of the pharmaceutical industry is based on the successful commercialization of a certain technology or a certain type of technology, such as screening for medicinal compounds from tens of thousands of compounds, and after a large number of experiments to verify its drug-forming properties, and ultimately into products that patients benefit from. . The commercialization of technology has brought about a high degree of prosperity in the pharmaceutical industry, and the pharmaceutical industry is undergoing drastic changes driven by new technologies.

We have seen that many pharmaceutical companies can gain a foothold in the market with only one drug, which is an example of successful commercialization of technology. For example, Aibowei, which pioneered the development of adalimumab, was approved for marketing in 2007 and received $3 billion in sales revenue in the first year. After maintaining rapid growth, the annual sales of adalimumab in 2017 reached 18.427 billion US dollars, accounting for 65% of revenue.

The need for social health products and services also forces the industry to continue to use new technologies. Demographic changes - the aging of the population, the decline in fertility rates, etc., have increased the demand for chronic diseases and rehabilitation; the health care budget deficits in various countries are serious, and various types of control fees are being sought to meet the basic medical security needs of the people. Insurance also requires reasonable budget control to meet its profitability needs.

On the other hand, as income levels rise, people's attention to health increases, and they are willing to invest more in health care needs, seeking more accurate, personalized, and highly comfortable medical and health services, centered on patients. The user-centered “value medical” service system needs to be established.

Driven by new technologies and their applications, the healthcare industry is providing better products and services and improving access through a more efficient distribution system. The establishment of collaborative networks has increased communication between different departments, creating an efficient value service network, reducing resource waste and improving the consumer experience.

The healthcare industry is embracing new technologies and actively transforming digitally. Digital tools link regulators, the pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical distribution and retail, medical services, payers, patients, etc., re-conceive the principles of the medical service system, and comprehensively promote the development of the medical and health industry.

From new drug discovery to patient management, digital innovation in the pharmaceutical industry

Pharmaceutical companies have begun to experiment with digital innovation in drug discovery and development and have developed corresponding digital innovation strategies. At present, the core of digital innovation in drug discovery is the use of artificial intelligence and cloud computing capabilities, massive data generated by patients, and ubiquitous digital devices, and applied to the following six areas:

(1) Analysis of structure-activity relationship of artificial intelligence applied to compounds

(2) Artificial intelligence applied to the prediction of crystal structure of small molecule drugs

(3) Volunteer recruitment informationization

(4) EDC cloud and remote information monitoring

(5) Wearable devices track the clinical manifestations of new drugs after they are marketed

(6) Patient community

Artificial intelligence is applied to the analysis of structure-activity relationship of compounds. The structure-activity relationship of a drug refers to the relationship between the chemical activity of the drug and the efficacy of the drug. The earliest study of structure-activity relationship qualitatively speculated the relationship between the structure and activity of physiologically active substances, and then inferred the structure of the active site of the target enzyme and designed a new structure of the active substance. With the development of information technology, the quantitative structure-activity relationship with computer as an auxiliary tool has become the main direction of structure-activity relationship research. Quantitative structure-activity relationship has become one of the important methods for rational drug design.

There are already a lot of software that can simulate the structure-activity relationship analysis process of a compound on a computer, and predict the possible activity of the compound, and then specifically screen the compounds that are most likely to become drugs, which can greatly reduce The time of drug excavation.

Artificial intelligence is applied to the prediction of crystal structure of small molecule drugs. The drug crystal form is very important for pharmaceutical companies, which not only determines the clinical effect of small molecule drugs, but also has great patent value. To put it simply, the drug crystal form patent is the most important patent after the drug compound patent. It is the important chip for the original drug company to prevent or delay the imitation of the generic drug into the market after the compound patent expires. Extending drug patents for two to six years, for heavy drugs, means billions of dollars in market value. For generic drug companies, by circumventing the crystal patent, the product can be sold immediately after the compound patent of the original drug expires, and the market can be quickly seized through a low-price strategy.

Combined with artificial intelligence and cloud computing technology, enterprises can efficiently dynamically configure thousands of nuclear drug crystal forms in the cloud, and predict all possible crystal forms of a small molecule drug within 30 days. There is no longer a need for pharmaceutical companies to worry about missing important crystalline forms due to limited experimental search space, and to more easily respond to crystal patent challenges from generic companies.

Volunteers recruited information. Through the network, clinical trial recruitment information can be quickly transmitted to a large number of patients, and patients who meet the clinical requirements can be screened, which greatly saves the time cost and capital cost of patient recruitment. In addition, data collection through smart wearable devices reduces the invasiveness of clinical trials and makes the subject experience more comfortable.

EDC cloud and remote information monitoring. Pharmaceutical companies are beginning to use electronic data acquisition systems (EDC, Electronic Data Capture) to collect electronic case report forms from subjects. Multi-stage data analysis based on clinical trial data collection (EDC) makes decision making faster and allows researchers to expand sample size and The geographical extent of the sample, the distribution ratio of the different groups of samples are adjusted, the sample size is estimated again, the experimental group is changed, and the experiment is stopped. On the other hand, for volunteers, clinical trial data collection (EDC) provides more timely feedback on adverse reactions, which can better protect the health of volunteers.

Wearable devices track the clinical performance of new drugs after they are marketed. Regulatory requirements, drugs need to be continuously monitored after marketing, ongoing clinical research needs to maintain continuous contact with patients, allowing pharmaceutical companies to collect data for each participant. Digital medical equipment facilitates long-term monitoring without pushing up costs. For the tracking of serious adverse reactions, digital health equipment can help pharmaceutical companies find early problems in time (these problems are never discovered in the clinical trial stage due to the sample size), and pharmaceutical companies can respond quickly to ensure the safety of patients. To avoid damage to the company's reputation.

The role of the patient community. From a patient's perspective, more and more people with the same disease are gathering in the online community to discuss the condition. Patients are often free to share reactions that may affect their medications and related factors. In some active online communities, patients have established strong user relationships, are willing to help each other, and are willing to share data.

The digital innovation of pharmaceutical companies runs through the whole process of new drugs from research and development to market, including compound screening, preclinical testing, clinical trials, post-marketing observations, etc. The use of digital tools has enabled pharmaceutical companies to shorten the time to market for new drugs and to conduct large samples. Volume, ongoing clinical trials and post-marketing observations, and patient review through patient community, optimize the workflow of pharmaceutical companies.

Let doctors learn from action, patient education is easier

After the introduction of the new drug, it is necessary to deliver the drug information and treatment to the doctor. At the same time, patient education is needed to maintain patient compliance. Even drugs that have been on the market for many years need to receive continuous feedback from doctors to track clinical manifestations to make observations about new indications for drugs, combination drugs, and so on. Digital marketing of medicine refers to the use of digital tools to achieve the above objectives.

In addition, because prescription drugs cannot be directly promoted and marketed to the general public, the online marketing of prescription drugs is more referred to as pharmaceutical digital marketing, while the marketing of non-prescription drugs and health products is called digital advertising.

Foreign pharmaceutical companies have long tried digital marketing, and many companies have established specialized digital marketing departments. According to a survey recently published by PricewaterhouseCoopers Sloan Consulting for more than 150 pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States, 90% of pharmaceutical companies have widely promoted or piloted digital tools as one of the marketing channels. To provide information and services on diseases, products, academic cutting-edge technologies and medical education.

At present, major pharmaceutical companies use digital tools to serve two groups: doctors and patients. From the perspective of serving doctors, pharmaceutical companies choose to use digital tools for academic promotion and marketing, mainly to supplement the traditional medical representative visit model, and use their low cost and diversified advantages to better serve as medicines. Enterprises and doctors set up an information communication platform, and doctors also showed an optimistic and open attitude towards digital tools. In addition, pharmaceutical companies can use digital tools to gather more expertise and resources to create academic highlands.

In addition to better interacting with doctors, another goal of digital marketing is to serve patients. For example, after a doctor has prescribed a drug, using Internet tools to manage patient compliance is of great significance to doctors, patients, and pharmaceutical companies. Due to market regulations and drug and enterprise compliance restrictions, most of the current education platforms for patients are operated by third-party platform companies.

Digital marketing can be popular, mainly for two reasons: First, low cost, compared with medical representatives, academic conferences, etc., online marketing costs are lower, consumption of personnel, materials, etc. is smaller; second is Wide coverage, the characteristics of Internet tools is rapid replication and dissemination, and with the implementation of grading diagnosis and treatment, primary care and other policies in the country, the sales of drugs are more decentralized, online marketing can help pharmaceutical companies enter the broad market.

From the specific channels, doctors' communities, doctor tools, mobile medical care , and Internet medical platforms are important channels for digital marketing of pharmaceutical companies. Slow disease management and health management APP have also been favored by pharmaceutical companies. In addition to cooperation with third-party platforms, some pharmaceutical companies choose to build their own websites, APPs, and operate public accounts to conduct online marketing.

Despite its huge potential and success stories, there is still a lack of mature models and market feedback for pharmaceutical digital marketing. According to Strategy's global survey, 31% of respondents question the effectiveness of digital tools.

Although the traditional marketing model of traditional medicine represents high cost and insufficient target audience, it is still the most acceptable marketing model for pharmaceutical companies, and it has irreplaceable value in marketing. Digital marketing is In practice, it has not yet been fully recognized by the industry. The digital marketing method is still in the water testing stage, and no one model is generally accepted and accepted by everyone.

As an emerging and exploratory marketing model, digital marketing is not a reversal of the original marketing model, but a new attempt to build on the original marketing model and marketing concept. Digital tools and platforms will be closer to pharmaceutical companies. The distance between the doctor and the patient compresses the transmission path, transmits information to the target audience more accurately and conveniently, and changes the behavior of the audience through a series of tools to achieve the goal of “knowing” to “action”.

Digital tools help create “new retail” for medicine

The “new retail” of medicine is not a natural concept in the field of medicine, but is introduced by e-commerce and retail. The first to propose the concept of “new retail” is the Ali Group, which also set up a special “new retail” business unit, which shows the importance of “new retail”. Corresponding to the new retail, there are new manufacturing, new technologies, new finance, new energy and a level playing field, which constitutes Ali's “five new and one leveling” strategy.

Ali believes that new retail refers to the combination of online and offline, service and product integration, technology and data integration, restructuring “people, goods, and fields” to make the supply chain operate more efficiently and the consumer experience is better. . After Ali, many e-commerce and retail companies interpret the “new retail”, and their concepts have become increasingly full, and they have gradually been introduced into the fields of medicine and catering.

The initial stage of Internet + medicine new retail mainly refers to the medical O2O model, including Ali Health O2O Alliance, Jingdong Home, Good Pharmacist, Jingdang Fast Drug, and Fast Drug Delivery. Some fresh take-out platforms are also entering the medical health market and are important players. The new retail of medicine meets the needs of patients to purchase medicines and deliver medicines home. However, the main categories are still focused on over-the-counter medicines and health products. The prescription source is an important limiting factor.

Pharmaceutical circulation and retail giants have also begun to cite the new concept of pharmaceutical retail. In March 2015, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals established Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Health, positioning itself as the new Internet “Internet+” development platform for prescription drugs. The business model of Shanghai Pharmaceutical Cloud Health takes the electronic prescription circulation as the core, starting from the acquisition and management of prescriptions, the payment and rationality control of prescriptions, the realization and delivery of prescriptions, etc., forming a new prescription drug brand with Yiyi as the brand. Retail ecosystem.

Sinopharm Group established Sinopharm Online in June 2015. As a pharmaceutical “supply chain + internet” platform under the Sinopharm Group, Sinopharm Online is committed to building the most comprehensive, widely distributed and most traded drug in China. Internet" new retail platform. Sinopharm Distribution and Retail provides a comprehensive category, regional coverage and quality system, and can work with specific medical services to create a “new retail” platform.

The realization of new retail of medicine includes the use of a series of digital tools and platforms, such as APP in O2O mode, remote diagnosis and treatment under the prescription external mode, electronic prescription circulation platform, SaaS service under the “Internet + supply chain” mode, B2B electricity Business platform, etc.

The new retail of medicine also incorporates the concept of DTP pharmacy and smart pharmacy. The former refers to the direct allocation of high-value drug manufacturers, led by manufacturers, so that new special drugs, self-funded drugs are more accessible to patients; the latter includes three situations: the hospital pharmacy wisdom management, scheduling, supplemented by offline delivery Modes, such as Kangmei Smart Pharmacy; prescribing information, emphasizing the flow of prescription information, facilitating the mode of patient drug acquisition, such as WeChat “Smart Pharmacy” project; strengthening supply of basic medical institutions, pharmacies, etc. The mode of ability, such as "cloud drug library", "cloud pharmacy" and so on.

The new concept of pharmaceutical retail has accelerated the decomposition, restructuring and integration of pharmaceutical retail formats. The retail of pharmaceuticals has changed from a single product offering to a “product + service” model. In the future, with the policy of separation of medicines, the new retail of medicine will evolve further. Understanding and business model. As the main practitioner of new retail of medicine, retail pharmacies will directly benefit from new retail of medicine.

Brian Arthur wrote in The Essence of Technology: Technology has brought us a comfortable life and endless wealth, as well as economic prosperity. In a word, our world is changing by technology.

This sentence is equally applicable to the pharmaceutical industry: technology brings endless wealth to the pharmaceutical industry, creating a high level of prosperity in the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry is constantly using new technologies to innovate products and services, so that everyone can enjoy quality, convenient and personalized medical and health services. The use of digital tools is not the starting point, nor the end.

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