The Future of Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals – Part 3 – Transcript

The first series of podcasts on the Industry Forward Podcast featured Jim Thompson, Sr. Director of Digital Strategy for Medical Devices and the Pharmaceutical Industries with Siemens Digital Industries Software. Dale, Jim, and I talked about the major trends in the medical device and pharmaceutical industry, and dove into how software and electronics are driving changes in how care gets delivered.

You can listen to part 3 of the podcast here, or read a transcript of the conversation below!

Conor Peick:
Hi there and welcome into the Industry Forward Podcast with Dale Tutt. My name is Conor Peick. Your host and a writer for the thought leadership team here at Siemens digital industry software. Today we present part three of our discussion with Jim Thompson, Senior director of digital strategy for medical devices and the pharmaceutical industries, also with Siemens digital industry software. As we conclude our conversation, Dale, Jim, and I continued to discuss the evolution of software, electronics and more advanced tech like artificial intelligence and machine learning in the medical device and pharmaceutical space. We also take a detailed look at the role that digitalization can play in the future innovations of companies in the industry with a specific focus on the application of the digital twin to the medical world. We also wrap up with some final thoughts from both of our experts on where things are headed in the future, so please relax and enjoy the episode.

Dale Tutt:
So you know, one of the things I was wondering about, you know, is in some respects medical devices. And equipment maybe is you know, because it’s more of a discrete product. Maybe there’s more similarities with some of the other industries. You know, consumer electronics and how you model and how you produce. Those devices versus. Like, say, a pharmaceutical side where you’re. You’re having to model the human body and the complexity of the human body and the differences between people. And so, yeah, I’ve wondered if that’s why you know, if you see more. Adoption of, say, the digital twin. In the medical device side of things and then kind of part of that question is as we think about the software discussion that we’re having earlier in the more electronics. Like say, automotive and. Consumer electronics and even aerospace, you’re seeing this huge adoption of systems engineering to help drive some of these processes for complex systems. And so really leveraging the digital twin, but the software systems engineering process around it to really. Help optimize those systems and help develop the software and lead the development of software and. So, you know, do you see the same thing happening on the medical side and is it more on the medical devices and versus say pharmaceuticals?

Jim Thompson:
Yeah, I think that’s your question. I think is implicitly a good observation. Dale, is, is that yeah, the medical device industry and at least that certainly the equipment and instruments part of it is. You know very similar, you know, from an engineering from a electronics and a software standpoint. Morris, a little bit more similar to other industries and they have been able to our customers have been able to take advantage of the advances broadly in, you know, digital twin software, digitalization and even automation maybe would be something to touch. China’s, as well as a means to both build better devices as well as build the devices themselves with more automation. And they are also getting more complex. And that’s, that’s where systems engineering really does play. A key role. Some kinds of devices, let’s say, have always been complex. Know an MRI machine? Um is an incredibly complex kind of a device. That, you know it has all kinds of, you know, software and mechanical hardware and systems that have to be tightly integrated and work perfectly to actually function. And then another kind of device that’s probably worth noting that we’re starting to see more and more of is robotic medical devices. We’re starting to see automation in the actual delivery of healthcare that introduces, you know, again very complex. Surgical robots as an example of that, that absolutely relies on a more systems based approach to do the development and the design to make sure everything comes together. In the end, the way you want it to.

Dale Tutt:
Yeah, that’s. You know, that’s a great point in your as you’re talking about. This the broadness of this of your. You know, when we talk about medical devices, pharmaceutical, healthcare, you know, just the fact that we’re talking about everything from as we started with the device, it is like you know you know, helping you with your diabetes. Or pacemakers things. But there’s also many other all kinds of medical implants. There’s the imaging equipment like Mr. is that doctors are using in medical facilities are using their equipment and the instruments that they use during operations and procedures. And then now you’re introducing another one where the robotics in, which is just like that next level. And I know that there’s been some of that just being done for years. But I see that growing as well. So you got a lot of things to cover and we didn’t even mention in pharmaceuticals. In that spectrum of what your industry covers. But so looking ahead, you know we’ve talked about using digital twin, we’ve talked about the software, the electronics is part of medical devices. We talked about the digital twin, the modeling of the human to help accelerate the pharmaceutical development. So how do you see the use of digitalization evolving within the medical devices and pharmaceutical industries? You know, there’s. More automation, more and more people talking about artificial intelligence. Machine learning. The industrial metaverse. I mean, with all these new technologies on the horizon, how do you see? The digitalization and digital processes really transforming within your industry.

Jim Thompson:
Yeah. Yeah, I think we are going to see. In the future, continued investment and realization in both medical. And pharmaceuticals of all the. Technology trends that you mentioned, automation, AI, industrial Metaverse, I guess. Some examples of that. Would be maybe from an automation standpoint, we already talked about that a little bit, but another key thing, this was something that I just recently learned at a conference that I attended that I found fascinating. That is going to be a big push towards automation. Is that? I think Dale, you and I are both technically baby boomers. And I learned that there’s not enough healthcare facilities and hospital beds to deliver healthcare in the same way that maybe say our parents are receiving health care and or did receive health care. And So what does that mean? I think what that means is that there’s going to have to be a massive increase in productivity. In the way that health care is delivered and the support of more automated techniques, and also I’ll go back to in home and in automation and software and smart devices to help with that. So that’s. One big trend, you know, over the next 1020 years that we’re going to see. The other one that you mentioned that is having a already a huge impact is AI. So, interestingly, maybe more so in the Pharmaceutical Industry than in the medical device industry. But, you know, one of the things that AI, you know, course let’s you do is model and make predictions based on data and observed data and information. And fortunately, you know there’s a lot of data available. About. Individuals call them, you know, biomarkers or information that is diagnostically measured. That can be then analyzed in a way that you know can’t actually be done any other way than AI is kind of the first tool that’s been able to do this. So there’s a lot of AI. Going on. To attempt to get a better understanding of all of the variation and all of the complexities of the biochemistry and the individual genetic profile that everybody has, without necessarily maybe understanding why. But if you can predict the behavior of why a particular molecule or a particular pharmaceutical is going to be worked, it maybe doesn’t matter as much as to why, as much as it’s going to make. Make a positive difference, but so I think. I think AI is going to have a continue to have a really significant impact in the development of drugs and of course you know same thing for medical devices. Has a unique anatomy, you know. A unique genetic makeup that may, you know, have a big input to the kind of treatment and the kind of devices and the kind of drugs. That are going to, you know, be necessary for people as they age and that and then that kind of gets into the I think the last technology that you mentioned which is the industrial metaverse which you know if I look in the crystal ball. You know, I’ve been talking about this notion of a medical metaverse, which is, you know, really just concept of an industrial metaverse being applied in a medical or healthcare context. And that I see that in the future that you’re going to go. See a doctor, whether it’s face to face or maybe remotely, and you know they’ll be literally a digital twin or digital twin of some part of your anatomy or. Your body that is being examined and you know ideally maybe a personalized therapy that the doctor comes up with. That you get a medical device or a treatment, or a combination of them both that is tailored and customized to your particular. Disease state and your particular profile from a biochemical. Or a genetic. So that’s my. That’s where I see the industrial metaverse playing a direct role in the delivery of healthcare.

Dale Tutt:
Yeah, so often I think when people think about healthcare and healthcare productivity. There’s actually maybe a bit of a negative spin on it sometimes, because they see it as like, oh, it’s just a thing to reduce cost and insurance companies and maybe they have a bit of a negative perception of. Productivity, but. I think what you hit on there is if there’s almost that imperative for automation. That we have to figure out ways to do this more effectively, more efficiently, just because the sheer numbers of people are going to need healthcare in the future. I don’t admit to being a baby boomer unless people are saying nice things about baby boomer. Say my baby. Otherwise, I’m the other side, so I’m kind of on the cusp and so I think I get to choose some days based on what people are talking about, but. But it is a very real imperative and I think that’s very insightful what you were saying there. About that, you know, it’s just as we, you know, think about the productivity and helping the you know helping patients through the healthcare system, maybe addressing Wellness instead of treating diseases is a big part of it. You know you talked about. AI and one things I was thinking about that there that I’ve thought about is that you know when you have these devices say like the insulin, the sensors that are you know looking at your blood sugar levels continuously. There’s a lot of information that they can be looking at and they can be tracking this beyond just your blood sugar levels and so you know with the, with the power of AI and data analytics Now you really have the opportunity to really help develop. A much better understanding about the overall health and Wellness of the person. And maybe be more proactive, maybe with, you know changes in nutrition or?

Dale Tutt:
You know, maybe be a little bit more proactive on, you know, some medical treatments so that you catch things early before they become a long, lengthy health stay. You know, and you know, obviously that probably brings with it some cybersecurity issues. You mentioned that earlier today in this in the podcast that you have to protect the patient’s health data and the information that’s available for them and so. There’s going to be some real challenges, I think with that, but you know, with the advantages that you get with the digital transformation of the industry. You know, we have to still have make sure that we have those protections in place and you know same thing with industrial metaverses you start to build this model of the person you’ve got to protect that as much as you protect the person, maybe even more so. Than you protect the person. I don’t know if that makes sense the way I just said it, but that is their data. It’s them when we talk about the real versus the digital world and how the digital twin brings those together, you know, we don’t talk about it just as the digital is a just a representation of the real world. It’s an. It’s it is what your production. You know what your product is or it is what your production process is. Are and so when we start talking about your modeling the patient. You know it’s the person. It it’s not a representation of the. It’s not just a folder full of data and information, it is the person. And when you start thinking about it that way, I think it you have a much different perception on how we actually treat people and provide for their healthcare and well. In the future.

Jim Thompson:
Yeah, no, I absolutely agree. And I, you know, I think fortunately there already are, you know, in place laws, regulations that are very protective of, you know, personal private medical information. And you know you. You could look at that from 2 perspectives. Either that’s going to inhibit some innovation or more openness that might make it easier to deliver, you know, future healthcare products that depend on that kind of information, but in the end. You know, I think it’s just another consideration of, you know, some of the complexity associated with the regulatory environment and how we need to deliver, you know, safe and effective. Medical products or our customers have to deliver safe and effective medical products. I think all of this can be. Addressed, but in the end a very well thought out approach towards digitalization is necessary to really deal with all the things that you know we’ve been talking about the use of software, the use of electronics, the increased complexity. You know, AI. And Metaverse and safety and cybersecurity. You’re really touching Dale on, you know the unique. Needs that the life sciences industry, Med device and pharma has for, for digitalization and it kind of just emphasizes in some ways the critical role that it’s going to have to play. As these new technologies. Are, you know, as a future patient, I’m solidly a baby boomer. That I would. I want my devices to be. I want my drugs to be personalized when I need them, so I think I think we’ve we all have expectations that the healthcare system and the companies that are providing the medical products are going to provide. You know that level of maturity and. So. So yeah, digitalization is, is a key role. For to make that happen.

Conor Peick:
So we’re coming up against the end of our time here today. Wanted to see if there was any last. Key thoughts or key messages that you guys wanted to leave the listeners with? Jim, perhaps, is there anything that you want to just put out as a kind of a final points, something, something that the listeners can think a bit more about after listening?

Jim Thompson:
Yeah, I think maybe the one thing that I would throw out is, you know, depending on where you’re at in your digitalization journey. You know, I think the key to think about is to make incremental progress. I think you know, there’s this notion of maturity with regard to digitalization that I think is really important and different kinds of devices, different kinds of parts of the drug development lifecycle. You know, you know all. Are differing in the potential use and adoption of digitalization technology and approaches. And I think the key thing to think about is. To, you know, have a good understanding of where you’re at today and how to get to the next step. It you know, and that might not be necessarily going from, you know, zero to 60 or from, you know 10 to 50. It might be from you know. From 30 to 40 and just making sure that you have a road map of. You know where you want to, where you want to go and how to make some incremental steps to get there.

Dale Tutt:
Yeah, Jim, I’ll just say great session today. It’s been very enlightening for me. I think as we talk about the, you know, some of the challenges that you that the industry is faced with and actually some of the accomplishments that they’ve had over the last, you know, 5-10 years with some of the increase in medical technology. And so it’s been a great session. You know, I love the discussion around where electronics and software are going in these, these, these. Industries and just even some of the discussion around how we you know some of the things that were doing in other industries you know that the medical device industry, the medical industry in general is going to be able to adopt from some of these other industries, you know, very bright future ahead as we think about this and as we think about how with all these challenges with all this new technology that has to be implemented, the power of digital transformation to help these companies navigate this faster, you know, as you were talking about. Very beginning. Passed with vaccine development and going faster than ever. Like, that’s what that’s. It’s an imperative for every industry there always being asked to produce new things faster. That’s why you know that’s the power of the digital transformation. Really help these companies transform their own businesses so. Thank you for joining us today and a great session. Thank you.

Conor Peick:
This has been the Industry Forward podcast with Dale Tutt on behalf of Dale and the whole team. I’d like to thank you for listening and I’d like to extend a special thank you to Jim for letting us his expertise in the medical device and pharmaceutical worlds over the. Three episodes coming up next on this feed, we have a bit of a transportation theme as we will be jumping into both the automotive industry and the heavy equipment and off-highway industry. Both really interesting conversations, so make sure to check in again to give those a listen. That’s all for now. Thanks again for joining us on the Industry Forward Podcast with Dale Tutt.