The science industry is forecast to spend nearly $17 billion on commercial IT solutions this year, an analyst has said.

According to technology analyst Ovum, the money will address “issues blighting the sector” and present an opportunity for IT providers to move “into a sector far behind other industries” in the adoption of commercial IT solutions.

Ovum adds that the life science sector is going through a fundamental change as patents expire on blockbuster drugs and government regulations continue to tighten. “This is resulting in decreasing sales and pressure to fill diminishing product development pipelines, leading to senior executives becoming more open minded about commercial IT solutions.”

Ruchi Mallya, pharmaceutical technology analyst at Ovum, explained, “The failure of many IT applications in the past has left key decision makers very wary in a secretive industry still reliant on paper-based, manual work flows.

“Yet with R&D costs spiraling out of control, they’re having to rethink. Issues include: paper based systems for extensive clinical trials for a single drug costing upwards of $500,000 in correcting data entry mistakes alone; departments operating in silos using different systems and procedures with no standardised way of sharing information;  outsourcing and moving facilities into emerging markets to reduce costs increasing the burden on datasharing and supply chain management.”