Medical futurist names three trends shaping the future of Pharma

Empowered patients, robots and artificial intelligence are reshaping the pharmaceutical supply chain, says Dr Bertalan Meskó, Director of The Medical Futurist Institute. He will share insights on the trends influencing the future of the pharmaceutical industry at a free webinar for industry leaders on 22 February in the build-up to the opening of Connect in Pharma 2023 registration.

“In my webinar for Connect in Pharma, I plan to give a crystal-clear overview about where digital health technologies have been heading in the 21st century — with a special focus on AI — and why these changes are relevant to pharma companies,” says Meskó.

“From organising logistics and equipment to drug design and drug repurposing, artificial intelligence has an immense power to automate and elevate what pharma companies have been doing,” says Meskó. “Chatbots can also revolutionise marketing by creating customised messages,” he says.

The pharmaceutical factories of the future will look more like an Amazon factory: “It will employ many robots while the staff look after them,” he says. The workforce who service the robots will be equipped with augmented reality glasses to shorten the time required to train them for new tasks, which is similar to how the automobile industry has been using that technology,” says Meskó.

The new technology is being partially driven by the need for greater precision and advances in personalised medicine. “3D printing and bioprinting methods will be commonplace in the production of a range of products,” says Meskó. Precision bioprinters use cells and biomaterials to create organ-like structures that let living cells multiply.

Meskó says the coming changes will ultimately empower the patient: “We will see a paradigm shift in which patients become members of their own medical team. They want to engage with their health and diseases management. This means Pharma companies will have to engage directly with the patient as well as the physician. Patients will require similar information and insights about products.”

In an industry that faces heavy regulations and high stakes (patient safety understandably looms large), most pharmaceutical companies see themselves as conservative and change-averse, says Meskó. But pharmaceutical executives must embrace the changes that are now rapidly coming in order to stay competitive.

Bertalan’s talk will be followed by the official opening of registration for Connect in Pharma, a Geneva-based event focused on the pharmaceutical packaging and production sector.

As the director of The Medical Futurist Institute, Meskó helps companies, governments and other institutions understand advances in digital health technologies and bring healthcare into the 21st century. Meskó, who is a physician with a PhD in genomics, has been featured in top publications, including Forbes, BBC and the New York Times and is also a professor at Semmelweis Medical School in Budapest, Hungary. He is recognized as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Healthcare.

Renan Joel, Divisional Managing Director at Easyfairs — the company organising Connect in Pharma, says industry leaders are welcome to sign up to attend the free online webinar. “Dr Bertalan Meskó is a truly modern and inspiring voice on healthcare technology,” says Joel. “His big picture analysis of the future of medicine and pharmaceutical technologies will help industry leaders get up to speed with the latest in digital innovations.”