The importance of IT in the overall delivery of services by the life sciences sector is increasing rapidly across the globe. And perhaps as a reflection of this trend, the overall spending by the sector on IT solutions is estimated to reach $ 17 billion by the end of this year, says market research firm, Ovum.

According to Ovum, the life sciences sector is going through a fundamental change as patents expire on blockbuster drugs and government regulations continue to tighten. The result of this is decreasing sales and pressure to fill diminishing product development pipelines.

It is for this reason that the relevance of IT in the overall ecosystem is on a rise as the sector seeks to streamline processes and increase R&D productivity. However past instances where the IT applications may have failed to deliver on results makes decision-makers wary of relying to it, says Ovum.

The sector is now exploring the medium to address some critical issues.”Issue include  paper based systems for extensive clinical trials for a single drug costing upwards of $500,000 in correcting data entry mistakes alone; departments operating in silos using different systems and procedures with no standardised way of sharing information;  outsourcing and moving facilities into emerging markets to reduce costs increasing the burden on datasharing and supply chain management,” says Ruchi Mallya, pharmaceutical technology analyst at Ovum.