This article was published in TSE science magazine, TSE Mag. It is part of the Autumn 2024 issue, dedicated to health. Discover the full PDF here and email us for a printed copy or your feedback on the mag, there.
Artificial intelligence is doing wonders for our health. But Europe must race to keep up with the biotech revolution, says the Director of TSE Health Center, finding ways to improve data access and boost innovation.
Over the past five years, the use of AI in clinical trials has grown exponentially. With the capacity to process staggering amounts of data, digital technologies allow researchers to move faster, cut costs, and explore exciting new techniques such as digital twins (see below). They can also drive huge efficiency gains for hospitals, via telemedicine and the use of AI to improve workflow, clinical notes, scheduling, and triage.
AI RESEARCH NEEDS HUMANS
AI is not a substitute for doctors and scientists, it’s complementary. For example, AI can find associations between genes and diseases which would otherwise be very difficult to detect; but humans who have scientific expertise are often better at weeding out false positives and other statistical errors before conducting clinical trials on the biomarkers and drugs targeted by AI.
ACCESS TO DATA
AI advances also raise privacy and competition concerns about ownership, sharing and use of data. Our governments need to balance these fears against the risk of stifling innovation with excessive data restrictions. Europe must find ways to relax its data protection rules when it is in the public interest, providing access to standardized health data in a sovereign cloud (see below) and other carefully designed ecosystems.
FORWARD THINKING
Biomedical R&D is increasingly expensive. In the early 1990s, the cost of developing a new molecule was about $800 million to $1 billion. Today, it has tripled. AI may bring down these costs, but Europe must provide its biotech firms with the right mix of incentives and support. For instance, tax credits and guaranteed minimum purchases can be combined with a US-style research subsidy agency.
A far-sighted approach recognizes the price of inaction. The immense initial outlay required to develop new antibiotics, for example, will be dwarfed by the longterm costs of ignoring the rise of antibiotic resistance. If we fail to invest and improve the way we reward innovation, Europe will fall further behind the US and Asia and expose its citizens to future health crises.
Data simulations, known as digital twins, have opened a new world of possibilities for analysis of medical drugs and devices. In the future, doctors may use virtual patients to customize our treatment.
Unlike public or private clouds, a sovereign cloud stores data within national or EU borders and adheres to local data protection laws. This ensures sensitive information is treated according to regulatory standards.
