Skip to main content

Cloud Edge and IoT will Improve Pharma Manufacturing

The global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in many industries. One of the most impacted was the pharmaceutical sector that had to reimagine business processes and rapidly adopt new technologies. It's yet another example where applying cloud computing had become a strategic imperative.

Today, next-generation pharma concepts are fueling ongoing innovation. In particular, the industry’s unique characteristics are driving investments in Digital Transformation by forward-looking pharmaceutical manufacturers. 

According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, digital factory revenue will top $4.5 billion in 2030 with spending by pharma manufacturers on data analytics forecast to grow by a 27 percent CAGR and reach $1.2 billion in 2030, as these companies evolve to boost productivity.

Pharma Digital Transformation Market Development

That said, the industry’s competitive dynamics require pharmaceutical firms to optimize their production lines to maximize yield for the time a drug has patent protection. After patents expire, generics companies will produce similar products.

According to the ABI assessment, the utilization of data analytics can support each type of effort to increase yield. Moving from manufacturing drugs and vaccines in batches, to optimizing the manufacturing process with 'continuous production' can dramatically increase yields.

"But the active pharmaceutical ingredients are susceptible to changes in their immediate environment. The batch must be scrapped if the condition of the ingredients or formulation falls outside accepted parameters," says Michael Larner, principal analyst at ABI Research.

Therefore, pharma manufacturers can choose to invest in analytics that aid in the development of 'digital twins' of their operations, so that they can prepare their production lines for more predictable continuous manufacturing.

Another digitization focus for pharmaceutical firms is to remove paper recordkeeping. "Collecting and storing data via paper-based processes risks reducing productivity and increases the likelihood that errors happen on the production line due to administrative errors," Larner points out.

FDA 21 CFR Part 11 is one way the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is encouraging the adoption of digital technologies by publishing the criteria for submitting electronic records to the organization and the treatment of electronic signatures.

The prevalence of paper records illustrates the progress yet to be made by pharmaceutical firms regarding digital transformation. ABI Research has offered a five-stage 'digital maturity' model, outlining the progress made and steps required by drug manufacturers to optimize their operations.

Larner explains, "Currently, pharmaceutical manufacturers are at Stage 2 in that they have modern factory but lack foresight and struggle to adjust production, or Stage 3 where they have started to implement digital transformation but lack expertise reconfiguring production lines."

In the coming decade, many firms will upgrade their existing facilities or build new 'greenfield' manufacturing sites, and their operations will be digitally transformed (Stage 4) or operate without humans on-site (Stage 5).

A notable example of advanced manufacturing facilities is Sanofi’s digitally-enabled, continuous manufacturing facility in Framingham, Massachusetts where all processes are paperless with plant operators using digital collaboration tools, data analytics, and Augmented Reality (AR) solutions so they can make decisions and adjustments in real-time.

Outlook for Digital Transformation in Pharma

ABI analysts say that there is already a myriad of suppliers helping the pharma industry to digitize and optimize processes by moving from the pre-digital stage (Stage 1) to connecting their manufacturing plants (Stage 3).

Moreover, I believe that the introduction of advances within the Internet of Things (IoT) arena -- and the introduction of fifth-generation (5G) wireless infrastructure and cloud edge computing solutions -- will enable the development of automated production processes and eventually new business models.

It's estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic has already fast-forwarded the digital transformation of the pharma industry by more than five years. Cloud computing and cloud-based IT security solutions helped CIOs and CTOs to adopt 'remote working' and perform decentralized clinical trials of vaccines.

Indeed, the path ahead for continued progress looks bright. And, I'm encouraged by these latest research findings. I'll share more insights on this topic as they're announced by the leading industry analysts.

Popular posts from this blog

Industrial Cloud Computing Apps Gain Momentum

In the manufacturing industry, cloud computing can help leaders improve their production efficiency by providing them with real-time data about their operations. This has gained the attention of the C-suite. Total forecast Industrial Cloud platform revenue in manufacturing will surpass $300 billion by 2033 with a CAGR of 22.57 percent, driven by solution providers enhancing platform interoperability while expanding partner ecosystems for application development. ABI Research found the cloud computing manufacturing market will grow over the next decade due to the adoption of new architectural frameworks that enhance data extraction and interoperability for manufacturers looking to maximize utility from their data. Industrial Cloud Computing Market Development "Historically, manufacturers have built out their infrastructure to include expensive data housing in the form of on-premises servers. The large initial upfront cost of purchasing, setting up, and maintaining these servers is

AI Semiconductor Revenue will Reach $119.4B

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and/or the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will guide Generative AI initiatives within the large enterprise C-Suite. They may already have the technical expertise and experience to understand the capabilities and limitations of Gen AI. They also have the authority and budget to make the necessary investments in infrastructure and talent to support Gen AI initiatives. Enterprise AI infrastructure is proven to be expensive to build, operate and maintain. That's why public cloud service provider solutions are often used for new AI use cases. AI Semiconductor Market Development Semiconductors designed to execute Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads will represent a $53.4 billion revenue opportunity for the global semiconductor industry in 2023, an increase of 20.9 percent from 2022, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "The developments in generative AI and the increasing use of a wide range AI-based applications in data c

Credit Scoring Service Spending will Reach $44B

Credit scoring is a method that lenders use to predict the probability a borrower or counter-party will default on loans, or incur additional charges for repayment -- also known as measuring credit worthiness. The method is a key tool in making credit affordable for individuals and businesses. It links credit products to risk potential, connecting borrowers to secondary capital markets and increasing the amount of funds available. This securing process establishes risk predictability dependent on a number of factors, determined by financial indicators and other publicly available information reported by the credit bureaus. Credit Score Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, they now forecast credit scoring services will grow by 67 percent to $44 billion by 2028. Juniper anticipates that emerging markets will experience the greatest growth -- projecting the African & Middle Eastern region to grow by 117 percent over the forecast period