< PreviousPACKAGING 20 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net become more commonplace. Outside of track and trace, anti- counterfeit tabs and holographic displays can be used to let consumers know the product they are using is legitimate. However, this relies on the consumer being aware of the trick used – and thus will call on extensive marketing and informational campaigns to inform them. This can be as simple as adverts and promotional material advising customers to “always look for the seal” or something of a similar nature, and this can help clamp down on counterfeit goods that make it through to customers. Counterfeiters will always be upgrading their own equipment to match that of manufacturers, so it’s important to stay one step ahead and monitor the situation. Without knowing what the counterfeiters are doing, there is little way to impede them. Some of the most significant developments to the packaging industry aren’t whole machines, but rather sensors. Given the fast pace of the supply chain, it’s better if products can be scanned and sent to the correct vehicle and destination faster. Sensors and barcode scanners come in here to great effect, drawing from SCM software to identify where the product is stored, where it needs to go and how many boxes, pallets or crates need to be shipped. Working in conjuncture with sensors is the use of offline case marking. Implementing such a strategy greatly reduces the human error which in turn bolsters efficient practices and decreases the risk of damaged goods and loss. The ability to mark-up secondary packaging offline meets a growing need for traceability in today’s pharmaceutical market. For many manufacturers, this is represented by increased levels of traceability and to crack down on counterfeit goods. After all, if end of line packaging can be stamped with seals of approval, then it reduces the risk of damage, and knowing where any product is going and from which distribution facility is integral to mitigating the fallout of a product recall. Pharma Business International 21 www.pbiforum.net PACKAGING © stock.adobe.com/fotofabrikaMARKETING 22 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net The digital age Social media and digital channels aren’t only changing the way in which pharmaceutical and medical products are marketed but are changing how companies conduct their market research. Pharma Business International 23 www.pbiforum.net MARKETING A dvertising has come on in leaps and bounds since the days of newspapers, billboards and the television screen. The internet, perhaps the single most disruptive communication force of our times, has provided new avenues for marketers to explore. It wasn’t simply a case of having another platform in which to extol the benefits of a new product or service, but rather the ongoing evolution of the web has forever changed the way in which people interact, consume media and share information. Targeted advertisements, user preferences and cookies have made it so that no two people’s online experience is the same. Marketers are now able to conduct in-depth analysis of online activity, ensuring they target only the desired demographic for a new product or service. TV viewing is on the decline as consumers turn their back on the terrestrial in favour of curating their own viewing – namely, online streaming. This has presented new opportunities for marketers. Video marketing has never been more effective or relevant having evolved to keep up with the times. The consumption of video content is on the rise, with video sharing platforms forming the lion’s share of some companies’ marketing and digital strategy. The biggest influencer here, though, is social media, where users like, share and comment on content. This offers companies a valuable insight into the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, as well as gaining first-hand feedback. This was the kind of insight that marketers could only dream of before the advent of the internet. Marketers now are preoccupied with chasing ‘viral’ videos. It’s difficult – often impossible – to predict which videos are going to become viral hits. This may 24 Á © stock.adobe.com/ Production PerigMARKETING 24 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net happen inadvertently, for reasons a company might be keen to avoid – i.e. bad production values, poor acting etc. But if all press is indeed good press, then this can only work in a company’s favour. Provided a video campaign does indeed go viral, it will likely be picked up by major media outlets, exposing it to an even greater audience than might have seen it without. For this reason, marketing companies might try to replicate popular videos, hoping to capture some of that same quality that resonated with and/or amused consumers. However, marketers must remember that the internet is fickle and what may have been a hit one week may not be the week after. Consumers have grown more cynical of traditional adverts, especially the coveted millennial and Gen Z demographics, the latter of which has come of age surrounded by mobile browsing and digital technology. This same age bracket hungers for experiences, as well as media that reflects them. This demographic is also famed for its rejection of traditional gender and sexual norms. So, in order to secure the millennial dollar, marketers need to make connections. The days of a doctor in a lab coat waxing lyrical about a new drug product or medical device are over. Instead, companies should try and connect through inspirational messages, inject a feel-good factor and demonstrate good corporate social responsibility. Pfizer, Sanofi and GSK have all put this into effect with successful video campaigns which put young people, inspirational messages and charity front and centre. And the results speak for themselves. Companies might want to also replicate the success of some of the web’s most popular video bloggers (or vloggers). Often these will involve a personality talking directly to camera, discussing a new product or experience with their viewers. This removes the boundaries between the two parties, making viewers feel very much a part of the wider discussion. Indeed, viewers are often invited to share their own thoughts in the comments. A company could even reach out to any vloggers that cover health, fitness or pharmaceuticals and forge connections. This kind of engagement has been seen in food and beauty, so why not pharma? Many of the top pharmaceutical companies also have a strong social media presence. Although companies have been wary of Twitter (or "X" as Elon Musk wishes to change it to) and Facebook et al in the past, those earlier reservations appear to be passing. Engaging with consumers on social channels is a great and low-cost means of spreading a company’s message and another example of how advertising has changed over the last decade. A few posts online may be just as effective now as a printed advert. Social media can be utilised as a valuable source of research. Companies can find out in real time exactly what consumers are thinking, how they’ve responded to certain products or marketing campaigns. Opinions have never been cheaper or more freely given and that’s an incredibly valuable resource, one the pharma sector shouldn’t shirk, but actively embrace. Pharma Business International 25 www.pbiforum.net MARKETING © stock.adobe.com/ Allistair F/peopleimages.comSOFTWARE AND IT SYSTEMS 26 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net © stock.adobe.com/ putilov_denisPharma Business International 27 www.pbiforum.net SOFTWARE AND IT SYSTEMS Artificial intelligence AI is the new kid on the block, and every industry is looking at ways to incorporate it. The pharma industry is no exception. A s if there was any doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the industry, all ten of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies are all involved at one stage or another with AI, whether that’s via direct collaboration, or funding via a venture capital arm. While big data and machine learning can be utilised right across the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, it’s in drug discovery where some of the most important research is taking place. The cost of discovering and developing new drugs has been climbing over the years, especially as greater regulatory scrutiny and ongoing healthcare pricing issues means that new treatments can be kept from reaching patients. Here AI can help by dealing with the massive amounts of data involved in new drug development. The overwhelming amount of health records, genetics profiles, preclinical studies and clinical trial data can all be correlated and examined en masse, and patterns found. During development stages, new data is coming in daily and with AI all of this can be added to and compared with a huge pre-existing pool of data, 28 ÁSOFTWARE AND IT SYSTEMS 28 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net providing a thorough foundation to build on. Issues and inconsistencies can be identified early and gaps in research found as well as conveying where research has been clustered and allowing researchers to see where better to focus their efforts. With machine learning, data isn’t only correlated, and patterns extrapolated, but outcomes can be generated, providing pathways for drug discovery. A research team simply couldn’t do this on their own but, guided by these same researchers, AI can use all the facts generated from this massive data pool to create hypotheses that can then be tested and speed up the development process. With a shorter development process, there’s less cost involved, meaning that potential new treatments can move to clinical study faster, offering a lifeline for patients. Hong Kong company Insilico Medicine developed an AI system that dramatically accelerates the drug discovery process from years to days. In the industry’s first successful experimental validation of AI for drug Pharma Business International 29 www.pbiforum.net SOFTWARE AND IT SYSTEMS discovery in cells and animals, the company successfully created a series of entirely new molecules capable of combatting disorders like fibrosis. Traditionally, drug discovery begins with the testing of thousands of small molecules to get just a few lead-like molecules. Only one in ten of these pass clinical trials in human patients. But with Insilico’s AI, it was able to ideate and generate novel molecules from start to finish in just twenty-one days. Insilico made the source code open source to make it more broadly accessible to the public and allow other companies and research teams to leverage the technology. Just a few months after Insilico’s breakthrough, a clinical trial began in Japan exploring the first drug candidate discovered using AI. DSP-1181 is being progressed as a long- acting and potent serotonin 5-HT1A receptor agonist for obsessive- compulsive disorder as an initial indication. It was jointly created by combining Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma’s science and know-how in monoamine GPCR drug discovery, with University of Dundee spin-out Exscientia’s Centaur Chemist AI platform for drug discovery. With this AI-powered process, it required less than twelve months to complete the exploratory research phase, less than a quarter of the time of the typical average of 4.5 years using conventional research techniques. Although artificial intelligence is still in its infancy where drug discovery is concerned, the breakthroughs have already been profound. From dramatically shortening development times, to reducing costs, the technology is helping to change the way in which new drugs are discovered, developed and brought to market. As of yet there is still a lot to learn about AI – and a lot for them to learn about their given tasks – and the term “AI” is also seen as somewhat of a misnomer. The machines are in many cases little more than trial and error bots that run several million processes at once, deleting the ones that don’t work from their memory to slowly (or quickly as it turns out) improve the process via the principle of natural selection. Calling them AI skirts near boundaries some might feel are unethical, and in truth they are machines set to refine a singular process. That process could be especially useful for the pharma industry however, as pharmaceuticals has always relied on obscure fields involving vast amounts of testing under strict conditions – which is exactly where an AI will excel. © stock.adobe.com/ monsitjNext >