Ukrainians have an opportunity to become participants in researches carried out within the framework of start-up programs, thanks to which they will be able to test the potential of modern medical approaches and technologies on their own experience.
Dmytro Shymkiv, chairman of the Board of Directors of Darnitsa Group, raised this topic in his speech at the HealthTech Talk panel discussion.
This event was organized by the European Business Association with the support of Darnitsa, a pharmaceutical company, together with Philips. Currently, Health Tech is rapidly developing. It is a direction formed at the intersection of technology, medicine, and pharmaceutics.
Its main task is to make the prevention and treatment of a number of diseases more accessible. As a result, patients have an opportunity to choose those instruments that will allow the monitoring of health biomarkers.
The use of such techniques leads to a formation of a new segment of medical services — early diagnosis of morbidity.
Dmytro Shymkiv highlighted another modern trend — the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in medicine. This will allow, along with biodata, to process information and issue recommendations based on it.
Such technologies can be used in cardiology, for examining the condition of bones, pressure monitoring, etc.
When millions of people begin to monitor their health with a help of special gadgets, a huge database will be created, which can only be analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI). The possibilities of its use in the business areas are diverse.
For example, at the moment, Darnitsa, a pharmaceutical company, is working on introducing AI in business processes of different levels, as well as with the aim of solving such specific problems as studying the behavioral models of patients and their readiness to comply with doctors’ prescriptions.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Darnitsa Group also stressed that the company is considering the use of artificial intelligence in the field of in silico research.
Since there are currently no such platforms in the country, the company is investigating solutions available in the United States. Along with this direction, the concern is also focused on the researches devoted to finding new ways to use the existing molecules.
The Covid-19 pandemic has given impetus to the accelerated development of telemedicine. This trend is observed both at the global level, where the volume of telemedicine has grown by 35%–40% and in Ukraine, where startups working in this direction have begun to open.
Soon, the first appointment through computer programs will become a daily routine and people will no longer go to the hospital to see a doctor. Telemedicine will help solve one of the pressing problems faced by modern medicine — staff shortage.
In addition to diagnostics, innovations will also affect some other areas of medicine, especially surgery and long-term treatment. According to Dmytro Shymkiv, the role of medical robots will be increased in these areas.
Among the significant trends, we should also mention the so-called personalized drugs, that is, special systems that allow for individual dosage and set the dynamics of drug treatment. Similar systems in Ukraine are currently at a testing stage.
The direction of digiceuticals (digital therapeutics) is also promising. Within the framework of this approach, patients have prescribed not only medications and procedures but also the use of special mobile applications, the task of which, in particular, is to monitor and correct psychological states.
Similar tools can be used to treat patients with a diagnosis of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). In particular, Dmytro Shymkiv spoke about the ways of using such applications for neuroses treatment.
We are talking about applications that monitor the person’s sleep pattern or help a person to relax and calm down through special games. Today, all the leaders of the pharmaceutical industry have already opened divisions in their companies, whose task is to develop digiceuticals.
Dmytro Shymkiv stressed that Darnitsa Group is also studying startups in this area for possible cooperation. The concern plans to offer its customers not only pills and infusions but also applications that can be used to treat a person.
The Chairman of Darnitsa Group noted that the state should provide businesses with an opportunity to finance technology parks and incubators because, in fact, this is an investment in science.
At the moment, such investments can only be made from profits, from which many other important areas are financed — culture, science, corporate, and social responsibility initiatives.
The experience of developed countries is indicative in this respect, in which private companies are given the opportunity to reduce the amount of taxes paid by means of a tax credit that is used to finance science. Unfortunately, there is no such incentive for investment in science in Ukraine yet.