Final answer:
A Cloud-first strategy enhances the efficiency of research and clinical trial processes in the pharmaceutical industry by providing scalable and collaborative resources, reducing cycle times, and facilitating regulatory compliance, which is critical in a field where rapid discovery and development of new drugs is directly linked to improving lives and profits.
Step-by-step explanation:
A Cloud-first strategy can significantly aid a pharmaceutical company in streamlining its operations for research and clinical trials. By leveraging Cloud technology, the company can benefit from scalable resources that support high-throughput screening (HTS), bioanalysis, and data-intensive processes like genomic sequencing. By storing and processing data in the Cloud, researchers can access shared resources and collaborate seamlessly, thus reducing cycle times in the drug discovery and development (DDD) process. Additionally, Cloud solutions offer agility in managing the large volume of data generated from ADME/pharmacokinetic studies and enhance the company's ability to comply with regulatory requirements such as FDA standards for safety and efficacy.
For a pharmaceutical company, the Cloud can expedite the movement from potential new chemical entities (NCEs) to market. This is critical in an industry where about 35 percent of new drugs between 1981 and 2002 were derived from natural compounds. It is estimated that one third of pharmaceutical research and development is dedicated to these compounds, underlining the importance of efficient systems to support the discovery of medicines that can improve people's lives and generate substantial profits.