5 Pharmaceutical Trends to Watch Out for 2023

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2 min read

Updated: April 21st, 2023

Find out what’s in store for the pharmaceutical industry in 2023, after the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the world slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, many opportunities are starting to open up for the pharmaceutical industry. According to research, the global pharmaceutical industry will be worth US$1.57 trillion by 2023. However, these opportunities come with challenges as well.

Policy changes, evolving consumer behavior, and a rising inflation rate across the world continue to put pressure on pharma companies.

Find out what’s in store for the pharma industry in 2023 and what trends to look out for to stay ahead of the competition.

1. Increasing verticalization of the healthcare industry

With verticalization, patient care is no longer exclusively provided in hospitals and doctor’s clinics. 

Some non-traditional institutions such as retail chains (e..g Walmart, Walgreens, etc.) may become part of the business of patient care and this will sooner become more normal than you think.

Verticalization also results in organizations creating alliances to improve product and service delivery. This results in an increase in patient services, access to care, and more importantly, lower costs of delivery.

With the pandemic prompting pharmaceutical companies to reexamine their supply chain, verticalization has proven beneficial to some companies, which will unsurprisingly become increasingly adopted in the industry.

2. More demand for personalization

The pandemic has also increased the demand for personalization among patients in the industry. Medical records need to be quickly available and retrievable in a centralized database for pharma and insurance companies. More patients are demanding quicker and more targeted services.

Pharma companies have also observed the demand for personalized content that is relevant to the needs and preferences of patients. Otherwise, patients have higher chances of switching to competitors for better services.

3. Challenges of cost control policies

Research also points to the increased adoption of cost-control policies in 2023. This may be combined with governments tightening rules in key pharmaceutical markets, which may impact the growth aspect of these industries.

Pharma companies’ research and development (R&D) spending may be decreased due to the hampering of growth across pharma companies globally in recent years. The generics pharma market, in particular, has been facing a decreasing return on investment. 

4. Digital transformation continues

The pandemic has also accelerated the trend of digital transformation adoption in the pharma industry. Digital solutions are expected to continue in 2023 across key business areas such as sales, marketing, advertising and customer support.

Those that have adopted digital transformation have been observed to radically alter the competitive landscape. 

More customers are seen to prefer companies that are able to provide more responsive care and service, changing customer expectations and buying patterns. 

Those that refuse to adopt digital transformation have been largely seen to lag behind, in terms of customer acquisition and profitability.

5. More adoption of agile workflows

The pandemic has also forced pharma companies to come up with and/or adopt more agile workflows. This led to the rapid development and approval of vaccines, and workflows dealing with patient care despite mobility and contact restrictions.

Today, the pharma market has a more heterogeneous and digitally-enabled customer base. The evolving patient demands and preferences have proven time and time again how the adoption of agile workflows is no longer an option, but a necessity.

Some of the ways agile workflows exemplified are through Interactive data flow and remote monitoring. Patient data is recorded in a centralized database for faster retrieval, eliminating unnecessary and repetitive workflows. 

More accurate, timely, and comprehensive services have been observed from more agile workflows, thus improving patient experience.

Better data and patient care through digital ecosystem

Learn how critical pharmaceutical workflows can be made easier with a digital ecosystem. Find out how you can gather, store, and retrieve patient data and provide more responsive services now. Book a demo with our experts at Saphyte.