Six Ways Data Visualization Tools Improve Biotech/Pharma R&D Outcomes
Benefits of investing in advanced visualization innovations.
Life science innovators have increasingly realized the value of visualization to drive real insights in data analytics. Exploring the capabilities of these cloud-based tools beyond simple presentation can inspire groundbreaking developments for emerging biotech and pharmaceutical start-ups. As noted in a 2021 article in Frontiers in Bioinformatics, every major development in genomics has come in the wake of a new invention within data computation and statistics. These are six strategic benefits of investing in data visualization as a leader in this innovative area.
Enhanced data processing and comprehension
Cloud-based information analytics provide a powerful tool for visual storytelling that illuminates the impact of your organization’s research and development efforts. For example, your scientists can access, gather, and display media from multiple platforms, databases, and sources through a single dashboard.
Cloud-based data analysis allows deeper interaction, including the ability to revise visualizations to highlight various aspects of the narrative. You can even combine multiple complex graphics to create sophisticated views.
Advanced data tools also accelerate discovery by reducing noisy data volume to highlight relevant patterns and connections. This benefits biopharma researchers who need to correlate market opportunities with possible drug treatments, diseases with causative agents, and chemicals with intended and unintended effects.
Simplified, stress-free sharing and collaboration
Most data visualization software tools come in a so-called container, a plug-and-play platform that includes everything you need to run the program. Since the necessary systems in the container have already been configured to work with one another, your team won’t face the challenges that arise when various components don’t interact as intended. With this structure, researchers who don’t share the same physical space can view and comment on the same 3D data visualization in a real-time virtual environment.
Faster, more effective clinical trials
Data visualization also facilitates greater speed and value among your organization’s clinical trial programs. With these tools, your teams can:
- Monitor key performance indicators at a glance on a customizable data dashboard
- Instantly summarize results in a reader-friendly format
- See a real-time overview of the trial’s progress to date
- Track potential risks for early identification of concerning developments
- Iterate immediately to create new reports as needed to support updated findings
A clear competitive landscape
Adolescent biopharma companies need to understand their market rivals to have a hope of competing in the crowded drug patent landscape. With data visualization, your leaders can clarify product pipelines and intellectual property information across your pharmaceutical or biotech environment. These tools draw indelible lines between different scientists, drug classifications, mergers and acquisitions, and patent activity so you can see exactly where your firm stands and take advantage of gaps in the market.
Space beyond size limits
You can see drug data and other research visualizations in 3D space outside the size of your team’s screens. With such an expansive view, data visualization lets researchers completely immerse themselves in the data from a 360-degree perspective to avoid missing connections that could change the direction of their efforts. As a result, you can have the confidence that comes from clear, transparent data representation. At the same time, you can simplify and reduce the size of large data sets when needed to visualize them in an understandable way.
In a 2017 example reported by Biopharma Trend, Novartis used virtual reality to create a three-dimensional exploration of small molecules and targets for protein. In the 3D VR landscape, the company’s scientists viewed and analyzed interactions between these structures.
Comprehensive knowledge graphs
Many growing companies in pharmaceutical and biotech research rely on global teams at international sites in various time zones. By building knowledge graphs through data visualization, scientists can break down data access silos for integrated analysis, management, and search. This approach helps reduce errors, illuminate understanding gaps, and prevent repeated efforts.
If data visualization has shifted from an afterthought to a concept at the forefront of your biopharma company’s future, consider outsourcing this type of tech to true experts. An experienced team can create the tools you need to innovate in the competitive pharmaceutical and biotech IT space.
References:
https://www.biopharmatrend.com/post/35-novartis-explores-virtual-reality-tools-in-drug-discovery-rd/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbinf.2021.669186/full