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Top 4 AI Use Cases in Life Sciences

Victoria Ebel, Appian
June 4, 2024

The life sciences industry is rapidly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to automate complex processes, enhance efficiency, and improve outcomes. From drug development to patient care, AI-driven automation is transforming the landscape. 

Here are some of the top artificial intelligence use cases for process automation in the pharmaceutical industry.

Transforming Pharma with Automation and AI

Gain further insight from the experts on AI in the life sciences industry.

1. Drug discovery and development

AI is being utilized to improve data collection and analysis throughout drug discovery and development. 

People spend way too much time sorting through data during the drug discovery process. Whether manually combing through content in research papers, gathering disconnected fragments of data, or trying to understand historical data that was captured in past research, researchers struggle with efficient and effective data collection and analysis of potential drug candidates. 

AI such as natural language processing and machine learning can help by automatically combing through disparate data sources and presenting valuable information and suggestions. This significantly reduces time spent looking for data and helps researchers make more informed decisions, ultimately streamlining the entire development processes and improving patient outcomes.

2. Clinical trial management

You can also leverage AI to optimize the clinical trial design and timeline.

Clinical trial monitoring has been very labor intensive work, with many tedious steps involved. There are also a lot of manual and data handoffs across clinical trial staff that can be prone to introducing errors into the clinical trial.

AI can automate monotonous tasks, freeing up time for researchers to focus on more valuable work. Automation can also streamline data handoffs, ensuring the accuracy and efficiency of data being shared and speeding up the entire process.

3. Regulatory compliance

AI is helping with regulatory submissions and enhanced compliance for life sciences organizations.

Regulatory bodies like the FDA are encouraging life sciences companies to leverage more automation to help with end-to-end process transparency. This push towards automation is driven by the need to ensure that drugs and medical devices are safe, effective, and of high quality. 

Ensuring the consistency and transparency of internal operations streamlines and simplifies the compliance process, delivering better company and patient outcomes.

4. Supply chain optimization

AI is enhancing supply chain resilience and agility for life sciences organizations.

Due to increased patient demand and competition, life sciences companies are reexamining their supply chain operations and how to more safely and efficiently bring products to market.

Supply chain automation is proving critical for life sciences companies to operate at scale. By automating manufacturing production tasks, organizations can produce more drugs and medical devices faster with consistent quality. AI can also help track geographic location, monitor cold chain distribution, and ensure the accuracy, authenticity, and safety of products throughout the supply chain.

AI innovations in life sciences

From drug discovery and clinical trials to supply chain management, AI is delivering innovations across processes to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes. As AI continues to evolve, its impact on the life sciences industry will only grow, paving the way for more effective treatments and enhanced patient care.

Further Reading

Transforming Pharma with Automation and AI

Learn more about future use cases for AI in the life sciences sector.