Sector Trends:
- As expected within RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, most technology start-ups (55%) focus on target identification and validation as improving R&D ROI is likely one of the most significant challenges that bio-pharma is facing. Clinical trial operations, despite being a significant unmet need in terms of overall efficiency and recruitment, have a lower representation in our data – this is likely driven by the limited appeal and low publicity that is associated with solving operational issues as opposed to drug discovery challenges.
- From the list of PROVIDER-FOCUSED companies in our analysis, most of them (50%) are developing technology to improve the efficiency of patient care management and coordination. With the rocky transition to universal adoption of electronic medical records (EMR), providers are struggling to keep up in the highly segmented US healthcare system that is applying incremental pressure on practices to become leaner and more financially efficient, these companies are attempting to provide technologically enabled efficiency to close the gap. Another large segment of provider-focused companies (31%) is developing technology to improve diagnostic workflows, mainly through genomics, AI / ML enhanced image analysis, and EMR. Interestingly, billing services (a significant unmet need for providers) is underrepresented.
- Majority of PATIENT-FOCUSED start-ups (55%) are focusing on technology-enabled disease management (e.g., health logging and management solutions, etc.). This overwhelming focus is likely driven by the fact that patient-facing approaches tend to be the least capital-intensive (i.e., mobile apps), alongside the proliferation of smart devices and the wave of disruptions that have occurred in the broader technology space. But such a strategy can be hampered by traditional patient adoption barriers that have historically been the downfall of this sector. Many of these companies have begun to establish partnerships with pharma / payers in order to broaden business opportunities and help monetize their offering. Interacting with multiple stakeholders, however, can be challenging due to the potential misalignment of incentives.
- Among companies that are focusing on PAYER COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS, there is a heavy emphasis on technology that can enable payers to drive patient outcomes (31%) and reduce costs (31%). The vast amount of health data available to payers will certainly be a key component of identifying high-risk members and preparing individualized disease management plans that can drive positive patient outcomes and reduce overall spend. In contrast to payer-targeting companies, BIOPHARMA COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS companies are limited in our analysis. Strict regulations around pharmaceutical manufacturers, industry payments, and health data privacy likely make technology and data innovation challenging to utilize for commercial purposes. There are, however, a few start-up entities that may provide significant value to biopharma in terms of marketing and sales force optimization.
Conclusion
Having looked into these high-level trends, we will continue our analysis with an in-depth assessment regarding the role of technology for each stakeholder type / sector and will publish the results in the coming months. In each article, we will describe the key driving forces, discuss potential opportunities as well as challenges, highlight interesting companies, and discuss our hypotheses around future trends. Stay tuned!