After another tough year of COVID-19 restrictions, there were some welcome signs of recovery in late 2021. Also emerging, though, were concerns about new viral variants - most recently, Omicron - that could push up hospitalisations and death tolls, ultimately returning countries to lockdown. In this uncertain climate, as we look ahead to significant pharma trends for 2022, people all over the world are having to re-assess the relationship between their personal health, behaviour and freedoms; and their responsibilities towards the health of their communities and of society at large. That is always a delicate balance.

In another year of considerable turbulence for pharmaceuticals, with COVID-19 continuing to disrupt business strategies and patient access to medicines, regulators and companies alike are finding ways to keep the approval flow coming. The trend for 2021 new drug approvals in both the US and the European Union, the two most important launching pads for innovative medicines worldwide, has more than kept pace with 2020.

The pharmaceutical industry is embracing agile ways of thinking and working in its efforts to boost productivity, creativity, speed and efficiency, all the way from laboratory to patient. That includes ensuring agile launch execution. For pharmaceutical launch activities, agility is a function not just of organisational structures or attitudinal change but of the technologies used to make those activities more visible, accessible and manageable.

In the COVID-19 era, pharmaceutical companies are fast learning that digital transformation strategy is not just an appealing concept but a strategic imperative. With the pandemic offering an unexpected template for agile means of remote working, multinationals such as Pfizer have embraced digital technologies as catalysts for change at every level of their organisation.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for the pharmaceutical industry to embed digital transformation at every level of its operations. That includes market access, tendering and pharma product launch activities.