Pharma Execs Seeing Profit Potential In AI

A new study shows pharmaceutical companies adjust their budgets because of artificial intelligence.

It’s no secret that life sciences companies are looking at artificial intelligence to solve operational problems.

As usual, the data tells the story.

According to a recent survey by cloud vendor Rackspace Technology, 67% of U.S. pharmaceutical companies say they plan to “ramp up” AI investments in 2024. That survey was taken in October, 2023 and published in December, 2023.

Now, a new study by Bain Consulting says the results of the pharma sector are so strong that 40% of companies who’ve invested in artificial intelligence are “adjusting” their company budgets and “expecting” significant savings from their AI investments. The companies, Bain says, are “baking” AI profits into 2024 budgets.

The study showed another 60% of pharma executives are “setting budget targets” based on AI’s “ability to cut costs and boost productivity.”

“Over the next six to twelve months, leading companies will move from cultivating isolated pilots to scaling for results,” said Eric Berger, a partner in Bain & Company’s Healthcare & Life Sciences practice. “As leadership teams move beyond experimentation into pilots and launches, they are thinking carefully about when and how to communicate their AI journeys to investors.”

“Those that can signal a structured, scalable enterprise-wide program, rather than a smattering of standalone initiatives, will reap the rewards in the next phase of AI,” Berger noted.

Expanding AI Horizons

Life sciences companies told Bain they’re using AI for a widening variety of products, with 46% of execs saying they were using AI applications and tools to “find disease targets.” Another 54% of pharma companies have automated biomedical literature review solutions. In comparison, 75% of survey respondents told Bain that generative AI “is a top priority to the C-suite and board members.”

The survey says much about AI’s ascension in the pharmaceutical sector and how sector companies already acknowledge the technology’s budgetary savings component.

“The results suggest that the pharma industry is moving past an exploratory phase with generative AI and are expecting to embrace its use in the coming year,” said Pharmaceutical Executive in a February 13 research note.

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