BioPharma

Sanofi, Bayer and Roche execs underscore the value of digital therapeutics

Biopharma executives leading efforts into digital health explain where they might see value in the emerging field of digital therapeutics.

therapeutics

Biopharma companies have long been looking for a way to go beyond the molecule/pill.The nascent but growing digital therapeutics industry set to grow to $10 billion by 2023 may be guiding that way forward, according to a panel discussion on the second day of the DTx (Digital Therapeutics) West conference in San Mateo, California.

Digital therapeutics is such an emerging industry that a strict definition of what it is, is hard to come by. But it appears that broadly speaking any digital product that has an FDA clearance at the least, makes a clinical claim that can be validated by evidence through trials would fall under the scope of a digital therapeutic.

When asked about where’s the value of digital therapeutics to a pharma company, Ruchita Sinha, senior director of investment at Sanofi Ventures, listed the five major priorities of pharma players.

  • how to get more patients on their drugs – an issue of access
  • hot to keep patients on their drugs – an issue of adherence
  • how to better manage side effects
  • how to get better pricing on drugs
  • how to extend patent life on drugs – a product cycle issue

“Digital therapeutics have the capability of improving all five of these metrics,” Sinha said. “The value of digital therapeutics is that they are collecting the data …so there’s tremendous value proposition.”

Sinha’s co-panelist from Bayer had a slightly different take noting that the value of a digital therapeutic depends on what kind of product cycle the pharma company is in.

“All the things that [Sinha] said right now, I agree with when the pharmaceutical company has a strong pipeline,” said Javier Garcia Palacios, director, digital health ventures, Bayer G4A, the global innovation program at Bayer focused on digital health through collaboration with startups and innovators.

However, there are times of uncertainty in a pharma company when there is a patent cliff approaching. That uncertainty is magnified when multiple products in Phase 3 trials fail all at the same time that was not foreseen, Garcia Palacios said.

In that context, “Dtx has the possibility to open new revenue streams that are fully independent of molecules and that is something which is surprisingly very unique for the pharma business,” he explained.

A third large biopharma company representative candidly admitted that his company is slowly exploring digital therapeutics, the latter being a somewhat nascent area for the firm.

“We don’t have enough experience yet in understanding which value propositions will deliver value …and we think digital therapeutics may be enabling for another drug and it may be a drug that otherwise wouldn’t come to market,” said Paul Upham, director of smart devices, Roche/Genentech. “In other cases it may lead to extension of exclusivity as a strategy.”

Other than the actual intervention/therapy, what’s appealing to pharma companies is the data that is collected by digital therapeutics. Especially real world evidence.

“Pharma is struggling with RWE and wants to understand how their drugs perform outside the controlled clinical trial setting,” Sinha said. “Pharma has been trying to do these apps and portals for their drugs and the last figure I heard for engagement is 0.1 percent. Nobody wants to touch these apps. The next generation of digital therapeutics bypasses these issues because everything is connected.”

Upham of Roche/Genentech also explained that pharma companies typical lack “systems thinking” and have “zero understanding of ecosystem and workflows” and this is where digital therapeutics companies can be of tremendous help.

Sanofi’s Sinha seemed to indicate that the French drugmaker is already along that path of evolution from a traditional molecule-focused company to one that embraces other modalities of intervention.

“From Sanofi’s perspective, digital therapeutics is more than just a product or a companion product, it’s more a way of thinking. And in the company’s perspective in five to ten years time there should be no developmental team that is not thinking about digital intervention alongside their drug. The way we are doing that is by creating a center of excellence,” she said.

Shares1
Shares1