We live in a time of extraordinary innovation and technological change. With a touch on a smart phone, we can pay bills, summon a ride, and instantly communicate with anyone in the world. Yet healthcare has been slower to take advantage of these innovations. In fact, many of the ways we think about disease and medicine are firmly rooted in the 20th century, or even back in the Industrial Age.
No longer. Advances in science and technology have created new opportunities in treating and preventing disease, as well as promoting health and wellness, that once seemed possible only in science fiction. We can now envision reading everyone’s entire genetic code—and even printing personalized DNA drugs. Our devices can measure everything from heart rhythms to blood sugar and analyze that data in real-time to spot troubling trends. We are beginning to focus on the genetic drivers of diseases instead of on where in the body those diseases originate.
“The time has never been more exciting than today because of new technologies, new platforms and new insights on what is happening in biology,” says Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer of Johnson & Johnson. “Unprecedented—and yet key—discoveries pose a series of incredible opportunities to prevent and intercept diseases.”
Realizing these possibilities is difficult, however. Especially when the new approaches challenge traditional business models. At an event organized by Johnson & Johnson Innovation earlier this year in San Francisco, about 50 participants from across the industry discussed the major trends that are transforming healthcare, and how to foster an environment that encourages these innovations.
This report builds on those conversations, along with additional interviews and research. Some of the ideas discussed aren’t new—the goal of preventing disease instead of waiting to treat it dates back at least a century. But technological advances and scientific breakthroughs are for the first time presenting new possibilities for turning these ideas into reality.
Illustration Credit: Xconomy