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The role of process automation in the pharmaceutical industry
Pharma RPase has become an essential part of this sector in order to respond to current health and commercial challenges. Thanks to the application of this technology, it is possible to obtain great operational improvements. So much so, that according to studies by the London School of Economics, the deployment of Bots automation capable of executing the most repetitive tasks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, can generate a return on investment of between 600%-800% in just three years.
As RPA culture permeates the organization, it is possible to scale in complexity and number of processes to be automated, achieving end-to-end process integration through the combination of other technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. In this way, not only do companies market safe medicines at a lower cost, but they can accelerate their arrival to the market, devoting more human resources to tasks that provide greater added value and that previously could not be reinforced because the resources were allocated to other repetitive tasks.
Main areas in which to apply RPA solutions
· Data Collection and Administration: One of the most important functions in this sector is the so-called pharmacovigilance, that is, the identification, quantification, evaluation and prevention of the risks of using drugs that are already on the market. The consultancy firm Ernst & Young estimates that, on average, a pharmaceutical company manages nearly 700,000 cases of adverse effects per year. Processing these cases in an agile and efficient manner, integrating data that varies both in quality, structure and format is a matter of public health.
· Financial Area:The transaction volume of a pharmaceutical company is very high, so being able to automate inventory is essential. Tasks such as order management, forecasting seasonal medications -such as anti-flu drugs- or controlling the expiration of the product in Stock it's very simple with PharmaRPA. Along the same lines, a laboratory's list of suppliers is also very extensive and subject to a lot of regulation. Thanks to process automation, it is possible to ensure that a new supplier complies with all legal requirements, even cross-referencing its information with third parties.
· Clinical Development: Process automation can be applied in different phases of a clinical trial, starting with the same patient recruitment, which, if not effectively managed, can become a bottleneck. Given the large volume of individuals participating in these trials and the amount of data they generate, to be able to develop Bots that they automatically process that information in the system speeds up testing and minimizes the possibility of human error. Once a drug has been tested, PharmaRPA technology can also simplify the regulatory process for approval by competent authorities.
· Sales and Marketing Force: Thanks to its ease of integration with other systems such as CRM, RPA technology makes it possible to automate routine tasks in the commercial area, such as organizing meetings with doctors, sending follow-up reminders to clients and potential clients or setting alarms when certain milestones are met. Along the same lines, the Chatbots are gaining greater weight, in some cases becoming real virtual medical companions for patients, conversationally solving more basic questions.
Key benefits of RPA solution applications
· Improved ROI. The benefits of process automation in a sector such as pharmaceuticals mean that the return on investment is very fast. Improving process efficiency translates into time savings in all areas, leading to a drastically reduced time-to-market of developed drugs.
· More agile processes: Especially in the post-COVID era, pharmaceutical companies need to be more agile and operationally efficient. Thanks to automation, these organizations can accelerate both their business processes and research or adaptation to an increasingly dynamic and changing regulation.
· Reduction of errors: Reliability in this industry is crucial. Reducing human intervention in repetitive tasks such as entering clinical trial data eliminates the possibility of errors that could ultimately be fatal. In addition, deploying an automation strategy contributes to greater control over processes, standardizing them and improving their traceability for future audits.
· Scalability in deployment: Experience in projects of this type shows that it is possible to go from less to more, automating existing processes to grow progressively. This mitigates resistance to change that may occur, although it is true that, by freeing employees from carrying out tedious tasks, they tend to welcome this type of technology from the start.
· Data Collection and Analysis: The area of clinical trials perfectly illustrates the benefits of automation. Its growth is exponential and, with it, the increase in data and its complexity, which makes Pharma RPA simplifies the collection and analysis of global studies with different locations and schedules around the world, an increase in the variables to be taken into account and the management of all laboratory samples.
· Reduction of time and cost: When entering data from clinical trials alone, process automation can reduce time spent by 90% and thereby save millions of euros per trial. It is no longer just a matter of monetizing research, but in situations such as the one experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic it can help save millions of lives.
· Regulatory compliance facilities: The consultancy firm Ernst & Young estimates that RPA technology reduces the regulatory approval process time by up to 65%, which translates into shortening the time frame for commercialization and, therefore, starting to generate benefits with the developed drug. In addition, considering that, according to Deloitte, 17% of companies do not perform a periodic risk assessment to identify compliance risks, Pharma RPA helps verify process records with regulatory and policy documents to detect any inconsistency or discrepancy.
Adea process automation service
Adea's experience in the pharmaceutical sector, both in terms of document management and process automation, makes it an ideal partner for deploying an RPA strategy. Adea accompanies organizations from start to finish, from identifying and defining the processes to be automated to the management of change among the personnel involved.
Adea does not conceive of Pharma RPA as a standard technology but, taking advantage of its know-how and best practices, it undertakes the necessary customizations in each project to get the most out of it and respond to the specific needs of each client.
