Pakistan’s pharmaceutical sector is poised to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the healthcare system, focusing on disease diagnosis, medicine discovery and minimising adverse drug reactions.
This decision was announced at an official workshop held on Monday, ahead of the 8th PPMA (Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association) Pharma Summit titled “The Future of Pharma: AI Integration for Enhanced Drug Discovery and Personalised Medicine”, scheduled for Wednesday.
An expert in AI and disruptive innovation Jim Harris emphasised the transformative potential of AI during the workshop.
He quoted founder of Google Deep Mind and Nobel Prize Winner in AI for chemistry in 2024, Demis Hassabis.
Harris further highlighted Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold AI, which has drastically increased productivity in pharmaceutical research, enabling rapid identification of compounds that can halt cancer at its earliest stages.
Harris introduced the swalloable capsule equipped with cameras and wifi transmitters that allows physicians to take images of the gastrointestinal tract and use AI to analyse these images for precancerous polyps.
He also discussed AI’s role in diagnosing cancer and other diseases through blood tests, noting that it has significantly reduced patient wait times for consultations.
Some local pharmaceutical companies have already implemented AI and advanced technologies to enhance drug development and monitor drug reactions.
These companies are utilising telemedicine, AI chatbots, and have launched e-commerce platforms under a direct-to-consumer model.
In a interview with Business Recorder, Harris described AI as “the most powerful tool humanity has ever created”, capable of transforming various industries, including healthcare.
He noted that AI can streamline repetitive processes, assist in patient diagnosis, and help manage adverse drug reactions resulting from multiple prescriptions by different specialists.
However, workshop participants raised concerns about the lack of a national database for patients and diseases in Pakistan, which poses a significant challenge to AI implementation.
They also warned about the dangers of using AI for self medication given the risks associated with multiple drugs for similar conditions.
PPMA Chairman Tauqeer Ul Haq expressed optimism about AI’s potential to elevate the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan, enhancing productivity, marketing and export capabilities.
Participants at the workshop provided positive feedback on AI’s potential benefits for the industry.