Pharmaceutical sector is at a crossroad. In a heavily disrupted marketplace, characterized by shifting payer attitudes and patient empowerment, neither incremental adjustments nor steady evolution are likely to halt the decline of the traditional pharmaceutical business model. KPMG has recently published a report titled ‘Pharma outlook 2030: From evolution to revolution’ that dwells into the scenario to examine the trends revolutionizing the sector and the trends that are expected to have dramatic impacts. Ajay K Sanganeria, Partner, Life Sciences, KPMG in Singapore, shares his views on the evolving trends in the pharma industry.
KPMG has recently published a report titled ‘Pharma outlook 2030: From evolution to revolution’ that dwells into the scenario to examine the trends revolutionizing the sector and the trends that are expected to have dramatic impacts. Ajay K Sanganeria, Partner, Life Sciences, KPMG in Singapore, shares his views on the evolving trends in the pharma industry.
With the integration of technology, healthcare ecosystem is under a constant change. How do you see the pharmaceutical industry getting redefined with this trend?
Catalyzed by an exciting range of new, disruptive technologies, the pharmaceutical industry needs to reimagine its future. By 2030, we envision that practitioners will also be able predict the likelihood of a patient being diagnosed with a disease or health condition, and shift from treatment of symptoms to prevention measures and complete cures, rather than providing temporary respite. In this new world, some conditions may well become a thing of the past. For example, it is now possible to cure hepatitis C, which was previously regarded as incurable and afflicts 180 million people worldwide. This has created a paradigm that has taken healthcare professionals, patients and payers by surprise. The shift is driven by three underlying developments that include ground breaking therapies, advances in technology, and consumerization through increased access to data by patients. The latter enables patients to better understand and get more involved in managing their conditions, which in turn raises expectations. The effects of these changes and the speed with which some historical methods are replaced, will inevitably differ by the therapeutic area.
What are the undercurrents that are driving the future of pharma industry? How are the companies gearing up to integrate them in the current flow?
It is apparent that some pharmaceutical companies are starting to recognize the impact of the two major shifts, which includes downward pressure on pricing, and the move towards prevention, diagnosis and real cures. These changes are upsetting the established order, opening the door to new competition, and forcing companies to rethink where they play and who they play with. It requires a growing emphasis on collaboration and partnership. We see three new ‘playing fields’ emerging in response to disruption, which among others, includes pharma tech, genetics and immunotherapy. An increasing number of pharmaceutical firms and medical device companies are partnering and integrating with technology businesses, clustered as Pharma tech companies.
According to a Reuters article, in a bid to tackle the huge and rising blight of diabetes, Sanofi and Verily, the life sciences unit of Google parent Alphabet, announced in September 2016 that they would invest approximately US$500 million in a joint venture to combine devices, software and medicine. We believe medical device companies are leading the cooperation with tech companies. For example, in the diabetes space, one interesting partnership involves device giant Medtronic teaming up with tech firm Qualcomm, to develop a continuous glucose monitoring system that will also provide actionable insights to patients and providers. Genetics has moved forward with real pace in recent years, with gene editing fueling a new wave of potential applications to aid both prevention (via early detection) and real cures.
The leading genomics firms are essentially biotech players, acting either independently or through collaboration. In the coming decades, gene editing could revolutionize the treat...
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