How Cloud Enables Innovation For Pharma and Life Sciences

For all the potential benefits of SaaS-based analytics and AI apps, privacy concerns remain, slowing data sharing and suggesting the need for new approaches to cloud security.

The cloud’s great potential benefit to innovation in the pharmaceutical industry is in its scalability, with cloud-based technologies giving companies the ability to access greater resources and processing scale.

This in turn could be a great enabler for artificial intelligence strategies, such as for drug discovery – however, some experts warn the cloud will not by default reduce costs or create benefits, and security concerns remain a major roadblock to IT departments looking at cloud-based innovations.

"It comes down to each individual organization determining what processes have ‘fat’ that could be trimmed through a transition to the cloud and what new capabilities they can access through cloud platforms and supplier ecosystems," said Dr. Abed Saif, founding partner and director of cybersecurity advisory services specialist AbedGraham.

He said he believes the development of new applications that enhance analytical capabilities, particularly through the use of AI, will be particularly valuable, as that could be applied to everything from patient engagement through to supply chain management.