Are you still working the same way you did five years ago? Let's be honest: AI has changed a lot. The opportunities are enormous, especially in biotechnology. Already in 2024, one in four venture capital dollars for AI projects went to the healthcare sector, according to Silicon Valley Bank. Although around 80% of the industry already works with AI, there is a wide range of applications, with significant differences between experiments and groundbreaking innovations. We present three AI beneficiaries from the healthcare sector and explain how investors can profit.
time to read: 3 minutes | Author: Nico Popp
ISIN: PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC | US69608A1088 , NETRAMARK HOLDINGS INC | CA64119M1059 , ROCHE HLDG AG GEN. | CH0012032048 , ROCHE HLDG AG INH. SF 1 | CH0012032113
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Nico Popp
At home in Southern Germany, the passionate stock exchange expert has been accompanying the capital markets for about twenty years. With a soft spot for smaller companies, he is constantly on the lookout for exciting investment stories.
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Palantir focuses on life sciences
When it comes to processing vast amounts of data, investors have always relied on Palantir. The Company primarily targets government agencies and businesses, offering solutions for large data sets. In healthcare and pharmaceutical research, Palantir has focused specifically on growth in recent years. The Foundry platform is used throughout the entire value chain in the life sciences sector – from drug discovery and clinical trials to production and administration. Back in 2019, Palantir joined forces with Merck to form the joint venture "Syntropy" to provide a data platform for cancer research that allows researchers to share and analyze clinical and preclinical data sets securely.
Palantir also cooperates directly with pharmaceutical service providers: In April 2024, Palantir entered into a multi-year partnership with contract research organization Parexel to enhance its clinical data platform with Foundry and AIP. This alliance aims to use AI to increase the efficiency of clinical trials, for example, by automating manual processes, analyzing historical study data, and providing real-time access to validated data for study leaders. According to Parexel, the integration of Palantir's AI platform has shortened study durations and accelerated processes from planning to approval.
NetraMark makes clinical trials better and more successful
In the slipstream of well-known companies such as Palantir, technology companies with links to research are trying to use AI in an even more targeted way. The best-known example is the Canadian company NetraMark. NetraMark's business model is based on an AI platform called NetraAI, which is aimed at revolutionizing the planning and analysis of clinical trials. NetraAI uses novel, topology-based algorithms to cluster patient data into explainable subgroups, thereby uncovering hidden patterns. This technology makes it possible to gain meaningful insights even from relatively small data sets, for example, to segment diseases more precisely or to classify patients according to probability of response to medication. Netramark is thus positioning itself as a partner for pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations to make clinical trials more efficient and more likely to succeed. This year, NetraMark entered into a partnership with Worldwide Clinical Trials with the aim of providing AI-supported precision analytics for Phase II/III studies in the fields of neurology and oncology. The goal is to accelerate decision-making processes, reduce development times, and increase success rates in clinical trials.
While many of its competitors' solutions focus on processes and pure data management, NetraMark starts with the selection of test subjects, thereby controlling what is likely the most important factor in clinical trials. "Our goal is to harness the full potential of AI to reshape the future of clinical development," says NetraMark CEO George Achilleos, summing up his company's mission. Making clinical trials more efficient increases the chances of success and reduces costs – all crucial factors for pharmaceutical companies. One example is Roche. Roche offers solutions across the entire medical spectrum – from early detection and prevention to therapy, and treatment monitoring.
Roche is betting on AI – McKinsey sees billions in potential
Roche's business model requires high spending on research and development – this is the only way to continuously introduce new therapies and diagnostic procedures. In 2024 alone, Roche launched several new drugs, such as the breast cancer drug Itovebi, and over twenty diagnostic solutions. Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker explained in 2024 why his company uses AI technologies: "AI decodes complex biological relationships faster, makes diagnostics more precise, facilitates more targeted drug development, and more. Roche has been a pioneer in the use of AI across the entire value chain and is setting new standards in healthcare." But Roche is also increasingly using AI to process large amounts of data and accelerate traditional trial-and-error research.
All three companies have an interest in reducing costs in pharmaceutical research. According to McKinsey, AI and related technologies in healthcare could save between USD 200 billion and USD 360 billion. Large pharmaceutical multinationals, in particular, are likely to want to secure a large slice of the pie. Innovative solutions like those offered by Palantir and NetraMark could play a decisive role. While Palantir has long been a billion-dollar company, NetraMark is still relatively new, with a market capitalization of around CAD 100 million. The stock offers access to a promising trend within biotechnology.
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