DIA Identifies Trends To Watch In 2014

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

DIA has released the 2014 version of its annual What Lies Ahead report. The report, first published in 2013, attempts to predict the trends that will have the greatest impact on the pharma, biotech, and medical device markets in the coming year. In assembling the report, DIA interviewed industry leaders from all sectors of life sciences including industry, patient organizations, government, and academia. According to DIA, this year’s responders were well aligned in their opinion of the most influential trends.

“Our thought leaders’ insights were quite accurate last year, and we believe these projections of the future landscape can be valuable to companies as they strategize to successfully meet the ever-changing needs of the marketplace,” says Susan Cantrell, director, DIA Americas. She adds the concurrence of multiple stakeholders in the 2014 projections lend credibility to their feedback.

At the top of the list were three trends tied for first place. The first is the evolution of patient/consumer engagement, which also made the list in 2013. I’m sure this came as no surprise to anyone at DIA, as patient engagement in the drug development process was a major theme at its annual meeting in Boston last year. The report notes the pharmaceutical industry is acknowledging the impact patient input can have on accelerating the development of therapies. The areas where this input will have the biggest impact are trial design, endpoint designation, the balancing of risk versus benefit, and the products selected for development. That being said, the industry continues to be in search of the best ways to engage patients and optimize their input in the development process.