Welcome to a new age of innovation. Yes, in part we are referring to our freshly revamped Innovations Issue, which has served as your go-to guide for the most interesting advancements in our industry for the past 12 years, and now features a more focused view on 13 different areas within healthcare, the life sciences, and marketing. But we are also referring to how innovation itself is evolving. Last year, we talked about how the life sciences was entering a golden age of innovation, led by a more supportive regulatory environment and novel artificial intelligence (AI) technology that could expedite drug development. But since then, interest in AI has exploded across the world in every industry. And in March 2023, Bill Gates wrote a blog post that proclaimed: “The Age of AI Has Begun.”
“The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone,” Gates wrote. “It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get healthcare, and communicate with each other. Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it.”
It seems people within our industry agree. In “Horizons: Life Sciences 2023” report, 76% of the 503 respondents said their companies will implement a plan to use AI tools within two years. Meanwhile, 41% of the 150 biotech and pharma leaders surveyed in PPD’s “The Pulse 2023” said AI is driving transformation in clinical trials—an increase from 17% the previous year. And in PWC’s “Next in Pharma: Thriving in 2023,” 53% of the financial chiefs surveyed said they are looking to accelerate digital transformation using data analytics, AI, automation, and cloud solutions. It’s clear we are entering an age of innovation in the life sciences that will be led by AI.
Which is why it only makes sense to kick off our expanded Innovations Issue with a look at some of the best uses of AI in our industry. Beyond AI, we explore innovations within Clinical Trials; Consumer Tech and Wellness; Core Business Processes; Data and Cybersecurity; Employee Acquisition, Development, and Programs; Health Technology Non-Consumer; Life Sciences; Marketing Technology or Services; Metaverse; Payers/Insurance Companies; Startups; and Telehealth/Telemedicine.
The innovations featured in those categories were selected among hundreds of submissions and represent some of the most forward-thinking approaches in our industry right now. They include both real-life use cases of available products and services as well as promising developments worth keeping an eye on. Either way, these are advancements you want to know about as we enter this new age of innovation.
