While much has been discussed how technology is innovating drug discovery and patient access to treatments, the bridge connecting the two — the pharmaceutical supply chain — is also rapidly experiencing a technological revolution expected to transform the delivery of life-saving treatments and vaccines to the masses. Specifically, the rise of this tech-fueled ecosystem is reaping more efficient, reliable and faster ways to develop, manufacture, package and store medicines for patients.

Industrywide, we are seeing the digitization of supply chain management, driven by a few key trends and new market requirements that are increasing the complexity and value of the supply chain ecosystem. One example is the rise of novel therapeutics, such as biologics and vaccines, including the Covid-19 vaccine, which require specialized materials, as well as specific temperature conditions for packaging and transport.

The direction that medicine is moving, with the ability to target different areas of diseases such as lung or breast cancer, means drugs are becoming more focused on each of those segments. In the future, there will be fewer large volume blockbusters and more investment in sterile manufacturing to accommodate targeted biologic therapies than in the past.

Clinical trial activity is also growing in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a shift toward virtual clinical trials, which save on the cost and time of finding patients who have the disease under study. Additionally, the rise in wearables and other high-tech devices, which can do everything from telemetry readings to reminding the wearer to take a drug at a specific time, is only moving us faster in the virtual direction with the ultimate end goal of getting treatments to patients faster.

In anticipation of these developments, our company established a digital transformation strategy in 2019, with technology fueling our expansion geographically and across capabilities. As a company, we are becoming tech-centered and understand what it means to use technology as a differentiator within supply chain management across safety, quality and customer experience. Since we are a company that provides pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical supply chain solutions, we recognize the need to invest in digital technologies as a large part of our overall investment spend. Here are some of the steps we took to leverage technology across our business in specific ways that your company can also implement, regardless of the industry:

• Cybersecurity: While there are benefits that come with an increasingly digitized supply chain ecosystem, there is also the potential for emerging cyberthreats and malicious activity. All companies, regardless of industry, must take a proactive approach to protect themselves. In our world, we must anticipate and thwart evolving threats to the pharma supply chain with a focus on innovative technologies to insulate our customers and ourselves. This means making digital security a part of company DNA — working to stay ahead of the curve with extensive cybersecurity strategic planning and compromise tests, among other measures. All digitization efforts should be underpinned by a well-funded cybersecurity program.

• Sophisticated digital collaboration platforms: The advent of sophisticated platforms is driving real-time collaboration across customers, suppliers and distributors and setting a new level of efficiencies, quality and customer experiences across the pharmaceutical supply chain. These platforms can connect various technologies across multiple locations providing customers with real-time visibility into their clinical and commercial supply chain to inform faster and more seamless decision-making.

• Real-time data analytics and insights: The ability to capture and harness data to generate insights that provide vital, forward-looking perspectives is changing everything. It is now vital to be able to track hundreds of different molecules and compounds that move across your business to identify operational efficiencies, enhance forecasting of short resources, track success and identify market trends.

• Digitizing core business processes: With the digitization of business processes — including operations, HR, finance, training and e-commerce — already underway, the pandemic prompted companies to reexamine their business model and innovate how they work. While virtual audits and inspections enabled us to keep life-saving drug launches on track during the pandemic, today this way of doing business enables us to meet virtually with the FDA, suppliers, our customers and global teams.

As new advances emerge, companies in this space cannot simply ride the wave of the tech-fueled supply chain revolution; they must stay ahead of it. We must be forward-looking, open to new ways of thinking and continually evolving to meet customers’ and patients’ needs. Hopefully, these emerging challenges will serve not as barriers but as catalysts to provide a renewed sense of purpose.

source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/01/27/digitizing-the-pharma-supply-chain-ecosystem/?sh=2accb56d315d