Unlocking The Digital Opportunity

With more than 50 billion connected devices and more than 80 percent of the companies expected to have a digitized value chain in the next five years1, digitization has been the game-changer for all industries. In this era of digital transformation, we must understand how the pharmaceutical sector has leveraged these tools and what must be the strategic priorities to unlock the exceptional value that the Fourth Industrial Revolution promises?   

Announcements in Union Budget 2022-23

The Government once again reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing the ease of living for the citizens for a healthier India in the recently announced Union Budget 2022-23. The budget allocation for the National Digital Health Mission increased from Rs 36,576 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 37,000 crore in 2022-23. The move to digitize the country’s health care delivery system by building registries of health providers and facilities, providing unique health identity to all residents, and preparing a consent framework will ensure universal access to healthcare.  

Value of Digitisation

The power of digital has been in full play in recent months given the pandemic, when the pharma sector upped its ante and delivered an exceptional suite of solutions, bringing in unprecedented levels of ease of access, safety levels, and convenience. The value that digitization brings to the pharma and healthcare sector is further underpinned by the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) which aims to provide universal health coverage by integrating digital systems within the healthcare infrastructure.   

Unlike in the past when remote medical care was seen with deep-rooted scepticism, today, telemedicine and its impactful role in delivering timely and effective care are boosting public confidence. According to Invest India2, telemedicine has the largest potential in the eHealth segment and is set to grow at a CAGR of 31% to reach INR 400 billion by 2025.   

Growth projections across the healthcare sector, including pharma, are indeed robust. It is estimated that the digital healthcare market will reach INR 485.43 billion by 20242, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 27 percent while the diagnostics market is set to grow 20.4 percent annually to a whopping INR2.4 trillion.   

Accelerating Growth

The integration of digital systems in the healthcare sector will fuel the growth of the pharma sector manifold. Digital tools and technology are no longer a support strategy, but rather viewed as strategic drivers to enable and ensure superior customer experience and growth aspirations. According to Strategy&, digitization in the pharma sector will help achieve real-time visibility, faster decision-making, and improved operational processes & maintenance – including a drastic reduction in downtime of manufacturing plants by about 30 to 40 percent. It will also help end-to-end supply chain integration, greater network scalability, and increased manufacturing efficiency and productivity gains.   

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence along with network medicine technologies can reduce the gap between drug development and its implementation in clinical practices. From the patient perspective, digital transformation will also help achieve improved patient care, cost-effectiveness, and transparency.   

The Digital Opportunity for the Pharma Sector and Universal Access to Healthcare 

Digitization paves the way for a new era of opportunities for the pharma sector, especially in the post-pandemic world, with digitization being leveraged across the value chain, including in drug innovation, diagnostics, and disease management. In addition to transforming the supply chain, digital technology will help achieve quantum leaps in enhancing process efficiency and boosting productivity. Such a transformational change will also have a long-term impact in redefining the healthcare ecosystem of India. We believe, this is where the digital transformation will play a significant role. Having said this, we also need to be mindful that our engagement with the healthcare practitioners evolves in a way, which enables them to share their deep-rooted knowledge of science and offer greater access to subject matter expertise.   

The primary value that digitization will bring is in addressing the disparities in healthcare delivery. Ensuring standardized care by breaking down geographical and logistical barriers, digitization will play a pivotal role in ensuring Universal Access to Healthcare – which is a vital investment we must make for a healthier future for all.  

This calls for the integration of multiple stakeholders: from the government to doctors, caregivers, diagnostic labs, and pharmacies along with patients and insurance companies to enable a seamless end-to-end patient journey. By promoting efficient public-private partnerships, the goals of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) can be accelerated.1i This is particularly so in addressing the gaps arising from low internet penetration and limited digital health resources.   

Data Privacy and Protection

With the growing importance of data privacy and protection, calibrating regulations to ensure patient safety will also require close collaboration between the government and private sector. Such partnerships will pave way for an industry rooted in strong-patient centric regulations that not only ensure access to quality, affordable and innovative health solutions but also protect data confidentiality and patient privacy.  

The successful implementation of data systems will lead to value-adding analytics that helps reduce healthcare costs, underpinned by better outcomes. This will also support and strengthen policymaking, further fulfilling the goals of ABDM to ‘bridge the existing gap among different stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem through digital highways.’  

Embracing Technology Disruptions  

The global pandemic has accelerated the “Digital Disruption”. This disruption has essentially revolutionized the way individuals, including physicians and patients, expect to experience services and products. One of the key drivers for embracing the digital opportunity is to encourage disruptive innovation in the pharma sector. India’s favourable start-up environment has already propelled several path-breaking ideas by young entrepreneurs and innovators, catapulting many of them to the global league.    

By embracing Industry 4.0 and innovation, pharma businesses can become significant contributors to every aspect of the supply chain including in the development of vaccines. With time, backed by a conducive regulatory framework, digital technology, and data analytics will precipitate a shift from a reactive system built to respond to diseases to one that is pre-emptive; geared towards early detection and prevention. 

It is imperative to build capacity and shore up the public health infrastructure to prepare for any future health threats, and for this, the pharma ecosystem’s readiness must be a strategic priority. By doing so, the industry will record sustained growth while prioritizing patient centricity and delivering on the national goals for universal healthcare for all.  

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