The AI in Business Podcast Enhancing Drug Safety with AI and Automation Technologies - with Marie Flanagan of IQVIA
Jul 29, 2025
Marie Flanagan, Director of Product Management at IQVIA, delves into the transformative impact of AI and automation on drug safety workflows. She discusses how natural language processing (NLP) and automation tools enhance adverse event detection, especially through social media monitoring. Marie highlights the partnership between technology and regulatory bodies like the FDA, emphasizing a shift towards transparent, patient-centric safety practices. She also stresses the importance of optimizing workflows before digital adoption to maximize the benefits of AI in healthcare.
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NLP Powers Early Drug Safety Detection
- IQVIA has used NLP for over a decade to scan vast multilingual datasets for drug safety signals upstream of traditional workflows.
- NLP replaces tedious human efforts, increasing efficiency in detecting adverse events.
AI Plus Automation Boosts Accuracy
- Combining NLP with RPA and OCR vastly improves adverse event detection accuracy in social media.
- Pure NLP yields 20-30% success; automation boosts this to 70-80%.
Regulators Support Digital Drug Safety
- Regulators encourage digital enhancement of workflows for drug safety, embracing new patient reporting channels.
- They provide broad AI guidelines but expect companies to self-manage detailed compliance within existing frameworks.