(We originally posted this in September 2020. You can read more of our original ideas in our archive.)
Problem: If a pharmaceutical company invests money into creating a drug and it doesn’t work, these companies will have wasted time and no final product.
Solution: A business which uses algorithms in order to repurpose drugs created by pharmaceutical companies or reengineer drugs into entirely new uses. For a full understanding of this industry and market, I recommend reading this market analysis or this white paper, courtesy of Alix Ventures.
The value of algorithmic drug repurposing can be seen from multiple angles:
It takes value that otherwise is discarded (in prior drugs) and applies them to new use cases with algorithms that turns a profit. Moreover, it would take advantage of already existing pharmaceutical supply chains for both formulation and distribution.
It cuts the time to market for new drugs, thus creating a material advantage for the business that is able to use algorithms to repurpose drugs quickly. This happens by reducing the number of steps in clinical trials that are required for medicine to reach the market
It would create rapid iteration on medical products to develop and test even more drugs than any other company in the marketplace.
For more on just how much faster algorithmic drug repurposing and reformulation is, see the image below.
Many argue that the 21st century will be an era defined by biological innovation: biology, just like what technology did at the turn of the century, has the potential to impact our understanding of business and how we think about building sustainable companies in the future. This market in particular is quite large, as reported by Alix it was “worth $54.7 billion in 2017 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.4% through 2022 to reach $85.8 billion.” This growth is set to be driven by cross-industry collaborations and partnerships, increasing needs to control drug discovery & development costs, rising adoption of cloud-based applications & services, and the impending patent expiry of blockbuster drugs along with strong support from the federal government to develop repurposed therapies.
Monetization: Selling these drugs to the public or partnering with pharmaceutical companies that sell drugs and applying this software/algorithm to their processes at a fee.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)