Top 5 trends in data-driven drug discovery

The shift from our one-size-fits-all approach to patient care is being upended rapidly by precision medicine. Data is paving the way for the future of data-driven drug discovery and patient care.

The time for integrated biological data is Now!

Even as genetic medicine has revolutionized patient therapy, it is clear that there are more questions than answers. Genomic data is only one part of a massive biological jigsaw puzzle. Very often, diseases like Obesity and Cancer have multiple cellular drivers other than genes. It is critical to approach patient therapy with different types of data on genes and metabolism.

We need better ways to explore Big Data

Biological data is as “Big data” as it gets. Decades of research have made it elementary to generate different types of data at the single cell level. Our techniques to access and analyze this data, not so much. A significant chunk of biological data exists across different platforms with no way to integrate them. Increasingly, data analytics firms are starting to make “Data Atlas” apps which make it possible for biologists to interact with the data.

AI is cool, data engineering is cooler

There is a vast sea of data out there that holds immense potential. There has also been a lot of excitement around how artificial intelligence can revolutionize our healthcare system. However, we find everyday, that the real heroes of this revolution are the data engineers who painstakingly curate the data for further analysis. This herculean task of collating and curating data is a critical need.

Data analysis is easy, Impact is hard

Healthcare across the world has multiple stakeholders working to improve patient outcomes. Collaborations between scientific, clinical, regulatory and business leaders is critical to bring research to the patient bedside. There is a critical need for our healthcare leaders to leverage the power of data to move the dial on patient care.

Personalized medicine is here to stay

The increasing popularity of direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits has made it obvious that the future of healthcare is B2C. Customers are beginning to take ownership of their health, data and treatment choices. Companies like Novartis have already started with highly personalized cellular based immunotherapy for disease conditions.

Dr. Abhishek Jha, co-founder of Elucidata