Top Pharma Trends to Watch in 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic ramped up lucrative investment opportunities in nearly every industry sector. And there’s no sign of market activity slowing anytime soon, as new geopolitical factors and recurring outbreaks of infectious diseases (i.e., monkeypox, West Nile virus) continue to open new doors for funneling capital. 

Simultaneously, weaknesses that existed in medical systems before the pandemic became clear, leading companies, stakeholders, and the like to devise solutions to overcome them. In addition to new regulatory and national legislation (i.e., The Inflation Reduction Act) driving stakeholder engagement, competition couldn’t be thicker to find the next big vaccine, management system, or therapy. 

But this financially prosperous time for pharma companies has left C-Suite leadership and stakeholders wondering: what does the future of healthcare entail? Deciphering future diseases and potential treatments is imperative to distinguish between a worthy investment or financing an industry fad. 

Using the AlphaSense platform, we dive into the pharma trends likely to stir up competition in 2024 and beyond, and that are expected to redefine medicine for both patients and providers. 

7 Top Pharma Trends

Vaccines

With news of the FDA approving the 2024-2025 mRNA COVID-19 vaccines this past August, research from University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging shows that those most affected by COVID-19 plan to get the updated vaccine: 

“In all, 45% of people aged 50 and older say they’re likely to get the updated vaccine,” News Medical shared from the U of M report. “The poll shows the highest rate of interest in the new vaccine in the age group most at risk of severe illness and hospitalization if they catch the coronavirus: those aged 75 and up. In all, 59% of this age group said they were likely to get the updated COVID-19 shot, with 49% of them saying they’re very likely and 10% saying they’re somewhat likely.The next youngest age group, age 65 to 74, also had a majority saying they’re likely to get vaccinated, at 51% total, including 40% who say they’re very likely.”

What is compelling these cohorts to get vaccinated? The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has taken nearly 6.86 million lives as of May 2023, according to Statista—a number likely continue to grow as anti-vaxxers remain steadfast in resisting vaccination. Ultimately, “vaccination remains the safest strategy for avoiding hospitalizations, long-term health outcomes, and death,” the Center for Disease Control says.  

However, this need for vaccination against not only COVID-19, but new and recurring outbreaks of viruses, like monkeypox and the West Nile virus, have created competition between pharma titans to create the “best” vaccine. These conversations are reminiscent of the Moderna vs. Pfizer vs. Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccinations of 2021. While all served the same purpose of preventing infection, consumers were quick to compare the three against one another—a trend likely to continue as pharma companies race to create vaccines against new diseases. 

Pfizer has stirred up vaccine excitement with their recent announcement to launch five “new vaccines,” plus two new medicines in oncology and immuno-inflammation. Meanwhile BioNTech, which collaborated with Pfizer to create its COVID-19 vaccine, said immunization against cancer could be possible as soon as 2030. Experts agree that pharma companies who’ve had a leg in the COVID-19 vaccine race are set up for future vaccine-crafting success. And now that consumers are hyperconscious of protecting themselves against any new potential health-threat, time will tell who not only creates an effective vaccine, but one that wins over the favor and trust of consumers. 

Artificial Intelligence

Mentions of AI applications within healthcare are steadily rising within the AlphaSense platform, especially within our library of patent applications and clinical trials. Physicians, surgeons, and nurses are leveraging artificial intelligence to retrieve insightful analytics that drive care optimization and workflow efficiency through predictive, AI-powered systems. 

Generative AI, in particular, excels at analyzing complex and diverse information sets—making it a suitable option for identifying a patient’s potential health risks. It acts as a virtual collaborator, helping healthcare providers consider a broader spectrum of variables, thus contributing to more comprehensive and personalized patient care.

Moreover, genAI doesn’t just assist with diagnosis; it also plays a crucial role in suggesting tailored treatment options. By drawing on vast databases of medical knowledge and the latest research, this technology can propose evidence-based therapies and interventions, ensuring that patients receive the most effective and individualized care.

Related Reading: Expert Insights: AI Adoption in Healthcare Delivery

AI is transforming drug research by imbuing traditional processes with predictive capabilities and unprecedented efficiency. Through the use of complex algorithms, AI sifts through large datasets, identifying potential drug candidates and biomarkers much faster than by manual means. This significantly truncates the drug discovery timeline, expediting progression to preclinical trials.

Within drug discovery, AI is reducing inefficiencies and accelerating development pipelines. Its capacity to digest vast datasets transforms the conventional methodology, reshaping the landscape of pharmacological innovation. Advanced algorithms predict molecular behavior, expediting compound selection, sequencing and synthesis—and consequently, elevating the probability of clinical success.

While the rapid rollout and deployment of AI within healthcare has caused controversy within the US and internationally (i.e., the EU AI Act being the first legal framework for AI usage in healthcare), its role will likely only grow larger.

Machine Learning

Machine learning has widely impacted the field of medical manufacturing, as well as providers’ approach to delivering medical care. The COVID-19 virus popularized the practice of replacing human workers with robots—mechanical workers that operate on “machine learning” or the application of AI that enables systems to learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed.

Patents and clinical trials found within the AlphaSense platform have been a steady, reliable source of information on how robotics are continuously revolutionizing the ways in which doctors diagnose diseases and even prescribe treatments. 

Machine learning in pharma focuses not on replacing a doctor but on enhancing their medical expertise using artificial intelligence programs. Already, doctors are using AI programs in X-ray readings and CT scans to identify suspicious nodules and lesions in lung cancer patients. 

Big Data

Based on equity research found within the AlphaSense platform, industry experts expect big data to have the greatest impact on the pharmaceutical industry. 

In addition to AI, big data is providing pharmaceutical companies with predictive, prescriptive, and diagnostic analytics that have been  enabling new drug discoveries and developments. Further, big data allows scientists to work with and link large datasets, detect patterns in real-time, predict outcomes, undertake dynamic risk scoring and test hypotheses. By applying these strategies to better inform decision-making, healthcare systems can leverage big data to improve the efficiency of research and clinical trials, building new and better tools for physicians, patients, and even regulators.

According to documents found in the AlphaSense platform, multiple healthcare companies, ranging from multi-provider groups to single-physician offices, are already adopting big data analytics to maximize revenues, increase personalized patient care services, quickly yet effectively detect healthcare fraud, and review clinical trials and medical records. 

Bigdata has also helped reduce some of the astronomical costs and drawbacks associated with clinical trials. JAMA reports that the estimated research and development cost to develop a new drug is around $1.1 billion, including the costs of failed clinical trials. That’s why recruiting qualified candidates for a clinical study is essential to maintaining a budget. Big data can eliminate the guesswork and time constraints of finding the right participants by leveraging genetic makeup, disease status, patient data, demographics, past clinical trial data, and much more.

Weight Loss Drugs

Since the rise of Ozempic, a diabetes medication turned off-label obesity drug, unprecedented demand for weight loss drugs has sparked around the globe.

This surge in popularity can be attributed to the ever-increasing, publicized risks associated with excess body weight and the growing desire for quick and effective solutions for fat loss. And while these drugs have gained favor among those seeking a shortcut to shedding pounds, they are met with mixed perceptions of danger and concern from the medical community. 

While some doctors view them as a valuable tool in their arsenal to combat obesity-related health issues, others caution against potential risks and advocate for lifestyle changes (i.e., exercise, diets, etc.) instead. Regardless of this divergence in opinion, weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro offer a promising opportunity in the healthcare and pharmaceutical market, with innovation and research continually progressing to provide safer and more effective solutions for those in need.

The emergence of highly effective weight loss drugs like Ozempic presents the potential to disrupt several sectors within the healthcare industry. For instance, bariatric surgery and similar procedures such as gastric bypass and gastric sleeve surgery, may see a decline in demand as individuals opt for pharmaceutical weight loss interventions, especially since these drugs have already proven to be highly effective. 

Digital Therapeutics

In the AlphaSense platform, conversations around digital therapeutics as an accessible healthcare option for global crises—a concern derived from the COVID-19 pandemic— have steadily increased in number. 

Digital therapeutics are software-based or digital products that can help treat, manage, or prevent a medical condition. They are often accessed on a phone, tablet, or computer and require a prescription from a licensed practitioner. However, having patients rely on software for medical guidance rather than in-person medical consultations raises various concerns about the reliability, safety, and efficacy of digital therapeutics.

Experts are bullish on the opportunities presented by digital therapeutics, believing that if these treatments pass all the traditional systems set in place by the administration, then patient and provider trust will likely follow. 

“With the FDA, as long as there are clinical trials that are completed and everything is run by people that have experience in the field, as long as there’s enough research and enough science behind it… things should be passed accordingly. That’s how we probably progress in the medical field and how we evolve in terms of ways to continue saving patient lives,” says an expert in one of our Expert Insights calls.

Biotech and Pharma Layoffs

In 2024, the biotech industry is facing a notable contradiction: while biotech startups have raked in $3 billion in funding in Q1 2024, major biotech and pharmaceutical firms like Novartis, Pfizer, Bayer, and Bristol Myers Squibb have implemented massive layoffs. Why? 

Biotech companies experienced a significant 48.6% drop in funding last year compared to 2021. The IPO market also took a sharp downturn in 2022, with proceeds falling by 93% due to market instability and volatility. As the financial strain spread across the industry, numerous companies had to close, reduce their assets, or seek alternative strategies to navigate the challenging biotech landscape, leading to widespread layoffs.

As reported by Drug Discovery Trends this past July, these layoffs include: 

• Bristol Myers Squibb: 2,200 jobs to be eliminated by end of 2024. Ongoing restructuring throughout the year, including 252 employees in San Diego (March) and 863 in New Jersey (April).
• Novartis: 680 jobs in development group over next 2-3 years. A total of 29 employees were let go in San Diego in July, with roughly 100 more jobs to be eliminated.
• Pfizer: More than 1,500 jobs affected, including 285 at vaccine R&D site in New York (January), 52 in South San Francisco (January), and 120 in Everett, Washington (March).
• Bayer: More than 1,500 roles affected. 90 employees at U.S. headquarters in New Jersey (March), with more reductions announced in May.

How the Pharmaceutical Industry is Changing

As we seemingly emerge out of COVID-19’s grip, the pharmaceutical industry has radically transformed.

GenAI has penetrated nearly every sector to date, transforming once laborious and tedious tasks into simple, quick workflows that even biotech and pharma professionals leverage in their day-to-day. This technology is allowing them to gain a competitive edge and accelerate their research processes, development, and business operations. The extensive, efficient capabilities of AI offer companies across the industry the ability to analyze large volumes of data, make predictions, optimize processes, and discover new insights in ways that were previously impossible.

However, legislation like the EU AI Act is emerging on how this technology is being wielded, more specifically, within the EU healthcare system. While the Act more broadly applies to corporations who leverage AI and genAI for consumer use, it sets parameters in accordance with EU policy to “protect and improve health, giving equal access to modern and efficient healthcare for all Europeans, and coordinating any serious health threats involving more than one EU country.”

Likewise, a wave of interest in weight loss drugs (i.e., Ozempic, Wegovy, etc) has led to major growth within the industry. Goldman Sachs Research projects the anti-obesity drug market to grow to $100 billion by 2030, as in 2023, the global market for anti-obesity medications (AOMs) reached $6 billion on an annualized basis. Over 750 million individuals are classified as obese, and at least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organization. 

As supply chains and providers are no longer focused on distributing vaccines in a world facing lock-down orders, consumers are prioritizing how they can improve their own health through medical intervention and technological convenience. It becomes the responsibility of pharma professionals, then, to provide solutions to these needs in 2024 and beyond. 

Recent Legislation Shaping the Industry

Healthcare systems globally are undergoing significant reforms, impacting drug manufacturers through stricter access and pricing regulations. Specifically within the U.S., the government has initiated negotiations for the first 10 products under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which include:

• Eliquis: prevents and treats blood clots
• Jardiance: treats diabetes and heart failure
• Xarelto: prevents and treats blood clots; reduces risk for patients with heart disease
• Januvia: treats diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease
• Farxiga: treats diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease
• Entresto: treats heart failure
• Enbrel: treats rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
• Imbruvica: treats blood cancers
• Stelara: treats psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
• Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill: treats diabetes 

Making Prescription Drugs More Affordable

Through the IRA, Congress seeks to make prescription drugs more affordable with reforms that will reduce the price of drugs and limit out-of-pocket costs for many Medicare patients. According to KFF, “a total of 50.5 million people with Medicare are currently enrolled in plans that provide the Medicare Part D drug benefit [a federal aiming to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs], including plans open to everyone with Medicare (stand-alone PDPs and MA-PDs).”  

But when the initial IRA negotiations took place last year, the pharma industry responded by launching a series of new lawsuits that invoke the First and Fifth Amendments. Merck & Co. and Bristol Myers Squibb, for instance, are challenging the IRA’s constitutionality. Meanwhile, lobbyists and their co-litigants are incorporating the Eighth Amendment into their lawsuit. 

According to a Pharma Voice article, William Soliman, CEO and founder of the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs, views this approach of litigation as strategic. “They are using a multi-pronged approach in tandem,” he says. “The purpose [is] to hit the government on all ends and to ultimately force them to overturn or seriously limit the impact the IRA can have.”

Reducing Exclusivity Window for New Drugs

Proposed EU legislation aims to reduce the exclusivity window for new drugs from ten to eight years if they do not launch in all 27 member states within two years. Germany is also considering reforms to its pharmaceutical regulations (AMNOG 2.0) to control drug costs, while Italy is restructuring the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA). In Japan and China, similar efforts are underway to lower drug prices. These reforms collectively signal a period of uncertainty and potential revenue pressure for the pharmaceutical industry.

How Can AlphaSense Help You Stay on Top of Pharma Industry Developments?

Pharma industry trends evolve on a near-constant basis, making it a full-time endeavor to decipher which ones to pursue with your attention and capital. That’s why more C-Suite executives are implementing market intelligence platforms into their operations to accelerate their research with premium content and AI. 

AlphaSense’s extensive content library aggregates business documents from over 10,0000 content sources, including healthcare news, industry reports, company reports and filings, 510(k) filings, and regulatory content from sources such as PubMed, World Health Organization, MedlinePlus, and the FDA.

Our advanced AI search engine then helps you get the most value out of this content by extracting the most relevant insights for your research and filtering out the noise—through features like Smart Summaries, Smart Synonyms™, and sentiment analysis. 

AlphaSense helps you stay updated on regulatory information, companies, industries, and potential investments with our customizable real-time alerts, dashboards, and watchlists. Stay on top of every new development and increase confidence in your market research when you use AlphaSense. 

Start your free trial today to see how our platform can get you the competitive edge.