Life sciences cover a remarkable range of businesses and institutions, including pharmaceuticals, biomedicine, environmental sciences, cell biology, and more. With so many fields and branches, it’s no wonder the industry is constantly changing. New challenges and innovations have a ripple effect that influences all areas of life sciences—including device design and manufacturing. Developers of modern product development solutions for life sciences rely on rising trends to inform where they should focus their efforts and what kind of opportunities are ahead of them. Learn more about the recent trends impacting life science device design with this overview.

Genetics, Personalization, and Precision Medicine

The rise of CRISPR/Cas9 technology creates incredible potential for genetic modification and other forms of biological research. For many researchers, the biggest question is what gene-editing technology can do for genetic diseases and conditions. A new era of personalized medicines and treatments that revolve around a patient’s specific DNA and genetic information might be on the horizon. This has major implications for life sciences device developers, who will need to revolutionize the way they design and deliver products to keep up with smaller, more precise orders. Streamlined, in-house machine shops and techniques such as rapid prototyping will be more important than ever before.

Revolutionizing the Health Care Supply Chain

The coronavirus pandemic shone a light on all the imperfections of the health care industry’s current supply chain system, but health care professionals rose to the challenge. Companies rushed to manufacture and distribute PPE (personal protective equipment) and other medical devices to understocked facilities. Researchers tackled the COVID-19 vaccine with remarkable dedication and accuracy. These feats demonstrated new ways to consolidate and streamline the development and approval process—something that can benefit device manufacturers as well.

That’s why many of the recent trends impacting life science device design seek to continue these accomplishments and reduce the research and approval life cycle. By following in the footsteps of the professionals who worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, medical device developers can find new ways to design, test, approve, and put new devices to market faster than ever before. This includes practices such as investing in in-house machine shops to eliminate outsourcing wait times; keeping a range of materials on hand for easy access; and making use of rapid prototyping techniques. In addition to making better solutions available more quickly, streamlining the approval process and supply chain allows companies to put their ideas to market in less time.

As scientists make breakthroughs and businesses adopt new practices, the life sciences industry continues to reach new heights. By keeping up with these trends, product developers such as Gener8 can continue to provide relevant and effective devices that support the advancement of the industry every step of the way.