The world of healthcare is evolving to more predictive care and patients are taking greater control—a trend already emerging around GLP-1 weight loss treatments. As PwC warns, pharma will need to be ready.
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What does the pharmaceutical company of the future look like? According to PwC, companies that are proactive rather than reactive to disease—using AI tools and other diagnostics to intervene before symptoms appear—will thrive, giving patients tools they are demanding to manage their health.
Pharma will need to prepare as the healthcare industry shifts to more predictive care for managing chronic diseases and as patients seek greater insights, the consulting firm said in a report issued today.
“The thriving pharma companies will be those who are faster to advance and harness transformational science—predicting health problems, curing chronic disease, reversing organ aging, reprogramming immune systems—and redefining the experience of taking medicine,” according to the report .
Companies should prepare themselves for a more consumer-driven world “and be in a strong position to help patients predict, prevent and treat disease in highly personalized ways.” This trend is already emerging as more and more consumers opt to self-pay for GLP-1 weight loss treatments as payers have balked at the high price tag.
“Today’s patient is directed. Tomorrow’s consumer will decide,” PwC said.
Gene therapies will also be a key part of this future, as these transformative treatment options could replace lifelong symptom management with a one-and-done option.
The pharma of today, however, is struggling to get gene therapies into the mainstream. While a handful are on the market, the sky-high price tags and recent safety concerns—including several reported deaths—have stunted growth.
Pharmas are already piling cash into efforts to build the companies of the future, with $5 billion invested by the industry so far into AI drug discovery efforts. These tools are being used to compress research timelines from decades to years and could power the next breakthroughs, PwC predicted.
But AI is not just going to reinvent drug discovery. PwC foresees “intelligent clinical trials” that can make human testing faster. And using insights and science gleaned from the power of AI should be passed on to the patient, the firm suggested.
“Leaders will build ecosystems and consumer brands around tackling conditions in a more predictive and integrated way (e.g., risk assessments, diagnostics, treatments, monitoring),” the report said. “Innovation at this scale demands reimagination, not just of science, but of how today’s pharma companies operate.”
