Electronic Health Reporter

Technology has revolutionized almost every aspect of life and the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t stay untouched. Between 2010 and 2019, the development and approval of the new drug for sales increased by 60 percent and technology played a huge role in achieving these statistics. Today, all pharmaceutical companies form strategic partnerships with well-equipped and technology-updated CMO biologics services. Let’s see how technology has made drug research and discovery easier and smooth over the years.

1.   Improved Medical Research

Modern technology has made medical research easier due to various specialized software, automated machines and tools that have made it easier for the researchers to conduct medical experiments which ultimately adds to medical knowledge of diseases and the requirements of appropriate drugs. Pharmaceutical companies build on medical researchers to conduct the experiments required to develop new drugs. Medical research gives an anchor to drug research by telling where to look for it.

2.   Effective Clinical Trials

Clinical trials have been around for decades and it is not an exaggeration to say — they have been a hassle. The enrolling of subjects and control, managing their appointments and keeping track of updates, all had to be done in person. It was difficult for both the subjects and the researchers. But the advancement in technology has made clinical trials much more efficient and effective through the usage of the internet and mobile applications where subjects can enroll, and update their symptoms and effects of drugs. Technology has made clinical trials more reliable than ever.

3.   Fast Drug Discovery

Pharmaceutical companies can use information databases to find out the target areas of drug requirements. For example, a pharmaceutical company used the information of 4000 people to find new drug targets and developed a new drug for hepatitis C shortly which was approved in 2016 by FDA. Technology makes it possible to collect vast data about patient conditions and drug outcomes with minimum human efforts and it has proved essentially important in discovering new drugs where time is of the essence.

4.   Online Questionnaires

In the past, a very common way of gathering data was focus groups, but now online questionnaires are replacing focus groups. Gathering data from individuals in focus groups was a time taking task but now a good questionnaire filled by the target audience does the trick. It is easier, convenient, and faster for the researchers and the subjects. Most survey-based research is now done through online data collection.

5.   Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has changed the world of drug research. It allows the companies to store and analyze vast amounts of data in minimum time with minimum hand power. It also gives access to research information from everywhere in the world making it easy to collect sources. Cloud computing goes hand in hand with data analytics. Medical researchers can make data-driven decisions about new drugs by getting a quantitative overview through cloud computing and big data.