1. GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS FINDING APPLICATIONS IN THE R&D AND DRUG DISCOVERY PROCESSES OF PHARMACEUTICALS. WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS?

The impacts are significant and range from a marked reduction in drug development costs and timelines to the acceleration of discovery processes and a considerable increase in the efficiency of clinical trial phases.

Combined with the use of the patient’s Digital Twin, this means, for example, that compared to a traditional time-to-market of 12–15 years, current forecasts predict these timelines could be cut in half. This is because generative AI drastically reduces the time required in the initial stages of pharmaceutical research, and the computational design of new molecules which traditionally took years can now be completed in months or even weeks.

AI can perform virtual screenings of millions of chemical compounds, identify early on the molecules most likely to succeed, and reduce the number of necessary laboratory experiments.

Furthermore, it is estimated that AI could reduce development and trial times by 30-50% and lower the cost per drug, making research on rare diseases or less profitable markets economically sustainable.

However, several open issues remain: computational predictions still require laboratory validation, the quality of available datasets affects the accuracy of results, and there remains a great deal of uncertainty surrounding regulatory aspects.

3. WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN HEALTH DATA SPACE (EHDS) REGULATION, AND WHAT ROLE DOES DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY PLAY IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION?

It is a fundamental milestone in the use and exchange of health data among EU Member States. This innovation will bring tangible benefits to patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, and industry operators.

The regulatory framework represents a step forward in patients’ rights to access their own digital medical records, enhancing transparency. Moreover, it enables the secondary use of health data for research and innovation while ensuring strong privacy protections.

In this context, digital technologies such as AI serve as the backbone of this regulation, transforming vast amounts of data into valuable insights, accelerating medical research, drug discovery, and the development of personalized treatments.

From an infrastructural perspective, cloud technology facilitates collaboration by allowing, for instance, patients to use their data across different countries and laboratories to work on diverse datasets from various populations.

Completing the picture is, of course, cybersecurity, a key element to ensure that sensitive health data are exchanged securely and in full compliance.

5. HOW IS ENGINEERING HELPING PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES REMAIN COMPETITIVE IN A COMPLEX AND RAPIDLY EVOLVING MARKET CONTEXT?

At Engineering, we support the leading players in the pharmaceutical industry with our deep domain and technological expertise, as well as our recognized experience in integrating systems such as ERP, CRM, and MES.

These platforms, essential for ensuring process control, operational continuity, and regulatory compliance throughout the entire product lifecycle, are also true enablers for the application of AI and GenAI solutions capable of unlocking the value of corporate data, optimizing decision-making flows, and accelerating innovation.