In the rapidly changing world of modern healthcare that has been revolutionized by the integration of technology, the pharmaceutical industry is facing an unprecedented number of problems and constraints, which can be seen in the infographic below.

In the face of such huge hurdles, it becomes imperative for the medical industry to leverage the use of latest technological innovations to track, generate and collect novel data. Digital Biomarkers converts the collected raw data into a pool of useful information that will help researchers, clinicians, consumers and entrepreneurs to better understand the different states of disease and wellness as well as the various less-explored domains of medicine and health. Digital Biomarkers are also used by the medical practitioners to get a comprehensive understanding of various drugs, their behaviors, safety and efficacy as well as the associated health outcomes. One of the key roles of Digital Biomarkers is to establish new insights by scientific analysis of the captured data. 

Relevant Data Analysis and Evidence generation: The raw data when paired with the right analytical tools can be utilized to track behavioral and medical trends and patterns in individuals. This results in the establishment of a hypothesis. This hypothesis is then tested with the help of a thorough analytical research coupled with extensive clinical trials. This step is crucial in testing and validating the hypothesis along with establishing a robust body of evidence corroborating the digital biomarker’s value.

Reliable and cost-effective Data collection: Although conventional and longitudinal data collection techniques result in a vast database of invaluable information, they fail at fully capturing the demographic heterogeneity and are often expensive and difficult to implement at large scales. Digital Biomarkers through passive and continuous monitoring with the help of modern technology and A.I. makes it possible to capture clinically informative and objective data in a cost-effective manner

• Reduced treatment costs: A cheaper R&D process and an economical diagnostic procedure achieved with the help of Digital Biomarkers reduce the costs of the related treatment plans to a great extent.
• Increased Transparency and Doctor-Patient Interaction: In the conventional healthcare system, medical professionals and physicians are unable to maintain a constant insight into the patient’s responses to the drugs and the treatment procedure. Digital Therapeutics through the use of Digital Biomarkers ensures that Doctors are able to keep track of their patients’ responses, remotely monitor the safety and efficacy of the drugs and the treatment process and also curate tailored plans for each individual patient. This results in the development of a transparent treatment process involving higher levels of Doctor-Patient Interaction.

Growth in Consumer Participation: Digital biomarkers are essentially collected through various consumer-centric tools such as apps, wearables etc. which also offer the consumers the choice to share their health information with the relevant stakeholders such as the industry experts and researchers. This way, Digital Biomarkers ensure an increased rate of consumer participation in the various treatment plans of Digital Therapeutics.

Building new insights in the domains of subjective data evaluation: Digital Biomarkers play a huge role in supplementing the existing biomarkers of medical domain relying heavily on subjective and behavioral judgments to develop more-detailed insights that will lead to the creation of objective diagnosis. This is best observed in the case of psychiatric and neurological conditions where observations-based behavioral assessments lead to the introduction of excess subjectivity in the treatment procedure. This excess subjectivity can be removed with the help of Digital Biomarkers as they aim at a holistic behavioral assessment through consistent and passive measurements of digital, online and offline behavioral patterns.

Owing to the rapid rise of technology, the ever increasing consumer demand and the consistent shrinking of digital boundaries, it can be undoubtedly said that Digital Biomarkers and the broader spectrum of Digital Therapeutics is the future of medical treatments. According to the vast and exhaustive research done in the spheres of Digital Therapeutics and Global Digital Market, it is estimated that the global Digital Therapeutics market will grow at the rate of 21 % annually up to 2025 (the end period of the research). The report also says that the global DTx market is posed to hit almost $9 Billion by 2025. It is predicted that wide spread consumer utilization of digital treatments and medical services will increase by 10 fold by 2023. The biggest reason behind the rapid growth of the Digital Therapeutics industry is the use of latest technologies coupled with user-centric, consumer-friendly and mathematically computed design process that makes the R&D process agile and smooth. It also makes the whole treatment experience through Digital Therapeutics hassle-free, fast as well as welcoming of frequent feedback and ever-evolving user preferences.  

To discuss about digital health in Asia, please reach out to imran@3h-ms.co.jp