Biopharma is in for a transformational year in 2016. Lawmakers are clamoring for drug price reform. Patients are protesting for faster FDA approvals. Patents are under fire from value-seeking hedge funders. And the industry’s least-welcome spokesman is live-streaming the whole thing.
This year, some of the fundamental pillars of the industry suddenly seem vulnerable. The rise of biosimilars is poised to cut into pharma’s cash reserves, while the once-reliable demand for biotech IPOs has all but dried up. What makes a drug approvable is the subject of a newly heated debate, while the financial wizardry that once made drug companies a sure bet has come under intense scrutiny.
We’ve put together a list of the people in and around biopharma who are poised to play major roles in the industry’s evolution. Some are recent hires hoping to rescue moribund giants, while others are long-tenured veterans trying to steer their firms into brighter futures.
Each is facing a make-or-break 2016 with wide implications for the drug business as a whole.
> Read the full report on the Fierce Biotech website
By Damian Garde
Source: Fierce Biotech
Big Pharma has long seen the potential for AI and machine learning to accelerate drug development. But Novo Nordisk is going a step further by channeling $200 million toward the creation of a computer that will outrun anything in existence.
Current methods for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease rely on a complex combination of self- and caregiver-reported symptoms, a physical examination and either a PET scan or a spinal tap to look for evidence of amyloid plaque build-ups in the brain. But a new artificial intelligence-based method may make the diagnostic process a much more objective one.
There is lots of talk about diversity and inclusion in business, including in pharma and medtech. A new report by the Open Political Economy Network (OPEN), a think tank focusing on migration and diversity, released its “Minority Businesses Matter: Europe” report highlighting the successes and challenges of ethnic minority-owned businesses in Europe.
