Data in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector play an important role in various aspects. Data has already transformed many facets of the sector. Huge datasets are driving new drug discoveries and are making clinical trials more efficient. Wearable devises such as sleep trackers are creating more informed patients and the employment of more sophisticated data models has enabled healthcare professionals better to predict and prevent illness. From personalised medicine to AI assisted diagnostics and genetic engineering and sequencing, the possibilities, it seems, are endless.
However, despite its potential to improve patient care and the share price of pharmaceutical companies, legal and regulatory challenges remain. One need to look no further than the recent introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to realise that significant regulatory challenges exists. With patients and regulatory becoming increasingly cognizant of data protection issues, regulatory restrictions are only going to increase.
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