Life sciences industry trends for 2025 and beyond

Life sciences industry trends for 2025 and beyond

In the past year, life sciences have faced sensible challenges: higher interest, tightened investment, and more. When combined with today’s economy-associated problems, these make involved stakeholders feel uncertain.

What happened?

The not-so-recent COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for innovation that drove important advancements. And, simultaneously, the industry has witnessed better communication and collaborations between leaders (biotechnology firms, research institutions, and others).

Yet still, there were notable headwinds: rising costs, geopolitical instability, and therefore – strained resources. All these, combined with other problems, have made it difficult for leaders to access & secure needed funding.

However, luckily, it appears that things will change in 2025 and lead to more confident investment.

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Life sciences industry trends for the coming years

Biologically relevant cancer research 

For decades, cancer research has leaned on regular 2D models, which failed to mimic the complexity of tumors. This led to a circa 90% failure rate for novel drug development.

Imagine trying to learn about rainforests by staring at a 2D picture of trees – rather inefficient, isn’t it?

But with 3D models, miniature replicas being grown from real-world patient samples, are changing the game. It’s similar to upgrading from a flip phone to a modern-day smartphone.

New tools like the Gibco™ OncoPro™ Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit are making 3D models much easier to use. The result: a sensibly better understanding of underlying cancer behavior and efficient drug development.

mRNA-based therapeutics

mRNA-based therapeutics are now breaking through – they’ve got their moment with the COVID-19 vaccines. These versatile, easy-to-produce therapies are poised to take on everything from complicated genetic disorders to breakthrough cancer treatment. 

Many researchers are eyeing the potential to treat complex conditions, in particular cardiovascular diseases. Watch out – the generation of nucleic acid medicines is making great promises.

Artificial intelligence and regulations around privacy

Among the latest trends in the life science industry today – artificial intelligence being adopted across domains.

Artificial intelligence, despite having massive potential, is raising great concerns about privacy in the first place. Existing regulations (HIPAA, HITECH, and others) weren’t designed with such sophisticated technology in mind, so there are some major gaps towards privacy.

Recalling Biden’s executive order of 2023, the efforts are currently focused around dealing with this problem. So, expect renewed regulations in the coming years.

Sustainability reporting

Also among key trends in the life science industry today – sustainable practices.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) problems are becoming more material to resilience and stability. Many organizations are preparing to comply with quickly changing regulations, as consumers and stakeholders are demanding more transparency.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other climate risks now must be disclosed – a proposed SEC regulation. This means not only rigorous disclosure, but also data collection, organization, attestation, and governance.

Today’s challenges and advancements

In 2024, the industry has witnessed many changes, in particular:

  • Pharmaceutical deals at the lowest level in almost a decade:
    • The sector has seen a decrease in mergers and acquisitions that reached an extremely low level
    • By late November 2024, only over 550 deals valued at $67.2 billion were recorded, a decline that alarmed the segment
  • Biotechnology dynamics – venture mega-rounds are returning:
    • The sector has seen venture mega-rounds, with investments in startups
    • This trend also indicates a rather cautious approach, with funds often allocated in accordance to milestones 
  • Data-centric challenges:
    • Artificial intelligence holds promise for revolutionizing drug discovery and development, however, it presents some challenges
    • The most important issues include potential data bias and inconsistency
  • “Tories “damaged” life sciences”:
    • The sector faced criticism over the government’s impact on the entire industry
    • Concerns were raised about the UK’s viability as an investment destination, with issues such as medication access, tax rates, and more

Yet still, the industry also saw major advances, for example:

  • Pharmaceuticals exploring 3D printing:
    • 3D printing has gained more momentum in the pharmaceutical sector
    • The innovation already fuels the creation of complex drug systems
  • Cell and gene therapies:
    • Great progress was made in both cell and gene therapies, in particular cancer treatment
    • Manufacturing innovation, including automation and miniaturization, fosters scalability, potentially expanding patient access
  • Personalized decision-making:
    • Artificial intelligence was applied to foster personalized approaches
    • Assisted decision-making has optimized health outcomes by incorporating individual factors: health histories, lifestyle choices, and more
  • Several countries successfully advanced genomic medicine integration into healthcare systems

How we can help

Abto Software – a custom healthcare software development company with proven, domain-specific expertise. Preliminary discovery, requirement documentation, design, engineering, quality assurance, and deployment – our teams can take over everything you need.

Healthcare and life sciences – a domain in which we excel, so let’s move towards digital transformation. 

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FAQ

What are other important life science industry trends?
  • Precision medicine – personalized medicine is becoming a standard, which facilitates most workflows from diagnosis to treatment and monitoring
  • Digital transformation – modern technology (telehealth & telemedicine platforms, wearable devices) is transforming healthcare delivery
  • Microbiome research – microbiome studies are leading to innovations for addressing gut disorders
  • Biomanufacturing advances – biomanufacturing innovations (for example, CRISPR and synthetic biology) are opening the doors to new drug candidates & therapies
Are there eco-friendly trends in the biotechnology and life sciences industry today?
  • Biosolutions for environmental issues – bioengineering advances are leading to creating new solutions, for example, microbes that break down plastic products
  • Biomanufacturing and green practices – more companies are adopting sustainable practices:
    • Bio-based materials
    • Waste reduction across productions, and more
What are the biggest life sciences industry challenges to date?

In brief, the struggles are mostly associated with:

  • Data privacy and ethics – to balance data privacy and ethics with innovation is an uneasy issue
  • Regulatory changes – to meet all requirements is another constant struggle
  • R&D time and cost – drug design, for example, is slow and expensive
  • Talent shortage – finding qualified biotech engineers, biomanufacturing professionals, and other narrow-focused specialists is becoming increasingly complicated
What are the greatest life sciences industry solutions to expect?

In the coming years, we might become witnesses of some great advancements, for example:

  • Introducing organs-on-chips – simulated organs for preclinical drug testing and modeling
  • Digital twins – virtual replicas of patients for precision in therapy and surgery
  • Bioelectronic medicine – electrical treatments for diseases like epilepsy and inflammation
  • Next-gen antimicrobials – phage therapy and synthetic, new-age antibiotics to fight resistant bacteria

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