The increasing expenses for cancer treatments are posing a dire crisis for patients and the healthcare systems.
Facing a critical shortage of affordable treatments, Ainur Nygmet, a Laboratory Process Automation Engineer, is stepping up with a bold plan: using lab automation to cut down the cost of drugs and ensure that life-saving drugs are made easily accessible to people.
In her role within the pharmaceutical sector, Nygmet shares critical perspectives on the challenges of drug pricing while envisioning a future where automation drives unprecedented change and efficiency in the field.
"While working at a leading pharmaceutical company, I was alarmed to find that the price for one dose of a cancer drug was nearly 40 times higher than the manufacturing cost," she shares.
This disparity raised questions about drug pricing. Her colleagues explained that the high price reflected the many years of research and development required to bring the drug to market.
This insight prompted Nygmet to pursue more efficient solutions. At a smaller pharmaceutical firm, she successfully automated over 50 methods in cancer drug discovery and rare diseases.
From her firsthand experience, Nygmet discovered how automation could simplify the workflow and cut down costs, which might help tackle those sky-high drug prices and make medications more reachable for everyone.
Merck's Keytruda is a prime example of just how steep cancer treatment costs can be, pulling in a staggering $25 billion worldwide in 2023 alone. Despite its proven efficacy, Keytruda's price exemplifies a broader issue within the industry: the exorbitant costs associated with cancer drugs.
An analysis of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings for 10 cancer drugs showed that the median cost of developing a single cancer drug was $648 million, while the median revenue after approval was $1.658 billion.
These high costs are often passed down to patients, making treatments unaffordable for many.
Lab automation offers several key advantages that could address these financial challenges. Think of it as a supercharger for labs—scientists can now test a massive number of compounds simultaneously, speeding up the discovery process like never before.
This capability accelerates the drug discovery phase and reduces labor costs by minimizing the need for extensive manual testing. In preclinical research, automated systems enhance accuracy and efficiency by reducing human error, which in turn decreases the need for costly repeated experiments.
The advantages of automation are not limited to clinical trials, which is one of the most time-consuming processes in drug development. Through this, the process of data gathering and processing can be improved, and the rate of mistakes, as well as the time taken to recruit patients, can be minimised. This solves one of the major issues and assists in the optimization of the trial, which may lead to an acceleration of the new treatments' time to market.
Post-approval, scaling up production is another area where automation can make a significant impact. Automated systems improve manufacturing consistency, reduce production delays, and facilitate more efficient large-scale production. This can help lower costs and make it more feasible to produce drugs at a scale that meets demand.
In addition, automation enhances supply chain management. Real-time tracking of materials optimizes inventory levels and reduces waste, contributing to overall cost reductions. Improved forecasting and resource allocation further streamline operations, leading to better cost management across the supply chain.
However, there are challenges that limit the use of lab automation. The capital investment in automated systems may be high, and staff retraining costs may also be involved.
These challenges can be particularly significant for smaller pharmaceutical companies. However, the long-term savings and operational efficiencies offered by automation are expected to drive its broader acceptance over time.
Regulatory challenges also need to be addressed. As automation is still relatively new in drug development, there is a need for standardized practices that ensure safety while fostering innovation. Nygmet advocates for increased collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and regulators to establish these practices and facilitate the integration of automation into the drug development process.
Peering into the future, there's a growing sense that lab automation might be the secret ingredient for making cancer treatments more wallet-friendly. As technology continues to advance and adoption rates increase, automation holds the potential to impact drug pricing significantly. This could lead to a more accessible future for millions of patients affected by cancer, potentially transforming the pharmaceutical landscape.
Facing the challenge of skyrocketing cancer treatment costs, Ainur Nygmet's focus on lab automation could be the breakthrough the industry desperately needs. Her innovative efforts are set to transform the landscape, potentially making critical treatments both more affordable and accessible to patients worldwide.
