The Healthcare Industry, a product of various aggregates and integrated sectors, has been through several major changes in this culminating decade. The way the different sectors develop towards progression and stay in tandem with each other, determines the way healthcare will progress. The Pharmaceutical Industry, which forms its backbone, has seen paradigm shift. Technology, research & development (R&D), and even market constraints have shaped the industry in various ways.
Research and Drug development is what Pharmaceutical companies thrive on. Apart from the use of chemicals to develop new and effective drugs, the focus is now shifting towards new methods of drug development. The R&D companies are now looking to harness the power of genes, new molecular entities, and even developing small molecules that can target specific diseased cells in the human body. Rather than looking at chemicals which can be constituted in the laboratories, R&D companies are now looking for answers in nature. They are now focused on how well can diseases be treated at the molecular level. Use of micro-organisms, lipid molecules, molecular binding agents are just some of the methods that are being subjected to research and drug development. These new methodologies still have a long way to go before they can be proven safe for treatment and used as mainstream drugs.
Another trend that started this decade and is predicted to continue is the end-to-end pharmaceutical service business model. Traditionally, Pharma companies have been happy to be dependent on Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization/Contract Manufacturing Organization (CDMO/CMO) for drug discovery and development. However, lately, there has been an increase in the development of end-to-end models, wherein large Pharmaceutical companies have been acquiring such CMOs, paving way for CMOs to provide development and manufacturing services for both active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and drug products. This model provides Pharmaceutical companies with a better control over each related process of development of APIs and drugs. Industry experts suggest that this integrated service trend benefits the Pharma industry by providing it a lot of flexibility. It can start drug-product development while drug-substance development is still going on for new drugs. It again is easier to tweak the current formulations of an existing drug to develop new formulations and test them before starting with mass production.
As we start a new year and a new decade, let’s take a moment to rewind and think about all that went by this year. In this edition of Insights Care, we exhibit “2019’s Leading Pharmaceutical Companies To Watch”. These companies having been putting in all their mind and might to develop cure for diseases that have been plaguing humanity.
This issue features Arrien Pharmaceutical LLC, a “FIELDS” technology-driven biopharmaceutical company, which focuses on the discovery and development of innovative and effective drug candidates for the treatment of human cancers; Biosortia Pharmaceuticals,which is on a mission to unlock the next frontier of chemistry for discovering new, groundbreaking drugs by enabling unprecedented access to microbiome chemistry; MAX BioPharma, a privately-held preclinical stage California-based biopharmaceutical company, developing novel small molecule lipids as drug candidates for intervention in debilitating and fatal human diseases; and Profounda, Inc., which aims at developing high-quality, specialty-niche pharmaceutical products in branded as well as generic pharmaceutical markets.