BigData and associated deep and large analysis will revolutionize the way to address current and upcoming human health challenges
After decades of product and services development, we see that current life sciences companies are facing more and more difficulties to deliver high value innovation in a more and more costs containment environment
After chemicals blockbusters that was addressing large patients’ volumes and that have faced Patent Cliff, Life sciences companies have focused innovation on lower size populations and unaddressed diseases (Orphan, genetic,…) to keep growth momentum. Despite important innovation brought by biotherapies wave, we see that companies still face access to market issues regarding innovations “relative” value in a low-cost offer market.
We do enter in new Era that will asked Life Sciences companies to deliver augmented value products and services in way to get an important recognition by payors and others empowered consumers.
Augmented value will be based on the facts that innovations should be delivering higher patients’ outcomes at a lower cost. It will be only possible through more personalization and customization to each patient or clusters of patients.
Only Heath data support and input will be able to drive the way to this augmented value innovation.
Data will drive important changes by shifting [1] :
- Uninformed patients, payers and providers to “Super consumers” empowered by data
- Sick care to Health care (prevention Era after decades of symptoms management)
- Blockbusters drugs to Precision medicine (tailored medicine)
- Disconnected health care to Connected health care
By getting a large, in real time and unlimited SET of patients and associated environment data; scope of explorations and innovations will be unlocked.
Another fact is that Health exploration and innovation is also unlocked for new powerful actors as GAFAS, Big Data companies, enhanced by IA, facing and competing with classical Life Sciences companies.
How to make it possible? How to organize data consolidation and exploitation to unlock innovation and revolutionize health approach
Heath data are “siloed” in many places as private companies and providers, hospitals, public organizations, social medias, etc…
Challenge will be to merge those “siloed” data in common platform to be able to crunch, analyze and extract unlimited value
Work on granular, personalized data will be key to cluster patient’s populations and be able to address their health challenges by discovering unknown, unobserved links and new health evidences.
Roche Pharmaceutical did acquire both Foundation Medicine (genomics) and Flatiron Health (Oncology Bigdata centers) to enrich its R&D process in way to find innovative treatments in their area.
The challenge of exploitation for all those data will be in building bridges between all the existing silos.
We observed since 2014 strategic alliances acceleration between Big Pharma’s and GAFAS, Data driven companies (IQVIA, IBM,…) to build common development platforms.
Alphabet created Verily Sciences and signed strategic deals on diseases as Diabetes with Sanofi’s Onduo platform or, as Ophthalmology with Novartis…
On their sides Public organizations, Hospitals did organize to build their own assets (Health Data Hub in France, Mayo clinic data centers in USA…).
USA did very well structure its health data exploitation to deliver useful data lakes for start-up development. As an example, most of Heath Records (HR) as ECG, are digitalized since years while most of French hospitals continue to print and analyze on paper records.
There will be also bridges or collaborations between Public and Private on common identified priorities; Probably helped and driven by payors and health organizations to optimize health costs and answer upcoming heath challenges (Cancer, Chronic diseases growth, environment new impacts…)
Health data Hubs or other kind of data clusters will probably emerge more and more in the coming years.
There will be a tough competition in the race for structured health data in the coming decade.
Confidentiality and data privacy will have to be addressed towards populations that accept to share their personal assets. New technologies as Blockchain are on the way to push privacy and develop trust in sharing personal data.
[1] EY – Pharma 4.0 March 18
