Digital twins a new opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry?   

The digital twin, through the possibilities it offers, in the fields of R&D, manufacturing and marketing of medicines opens new development opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry. 

A digital twin aims at the replication of a human or his organs from his data and constants within addition the genetic heritage and behavioral data of the patient.

To build this virtual twin we use information from Smartphone, connected objects, test results and patient records to connect care processes that involve patients, doctors, and healthcare organizations, as well as drug and device manufacturers.

The applications of digital twins in the health-pharmacy sector are multiple, including:  

• Cardiac models for the simulation of the installation of new implants 
• The test of new therapeutic solutions and drugs, using digital twins whose approval is underway at the FDA
• Participation in the creation of a therapeutic choice decision model applied to a given pathology. 
• The relocation of clinical trials through in silico trials 
• Use of digital twins in preventive maintenance of MRI-type machines  , for example 
• The use of digital twins in genomic medicine. They would improve the effectiveness of drugs because researchers have observed that drugs do not work about 40% to 70% of the time
• Digital twins would also make it possible to personalize drug treatments

The use of digital twins can significantly improve several processes in a pharmaceutical company, from research to drug commercialization. 

• In the pre-screening of patients as part of a clinical trial, thus paving the way for a reduction in the costs and delays of clinical trials. 
• In pharmacovigilance, the use of digital twins facilitates the classification of drug risks. 
• For the industrial production and distribution of medicines: Digital twins in a supply chain can help healthcare organisations model their relationships with the supply chain to better understand how to plan new events, shutdowns or manage shortages. 
• For marketing and in disease management approaches: Assessment of the market share of an NCE: estimation of the market of patients diagnosed treated, untreated ..., development of personalized medicine and follow-up of patient cohorts as part of the real world evidence

Digital twins can contribute to the improvement of all the processes in a laboratory.