The Industrial Age was all about mass production and production for the bulk of the population. That was in particular the dominant economic model of big pharma. Rare diseases were not tackled for the lack of economic viability.
Today this changes completely. Some biotech companies are extremely successful at making drugs for rare, orphan diseases. And social security or private insurance is happy to pay for the hefty price tag – because those diseases are so rare. In this great paper in Forbes, “How A $440,000 Drug Is Turning Alexion Into Biotech’s New Innovation Powerhouse”, we get a great insight into a new business model. A business model which addresses the needs of individuals at the fringe of the mass production model, while remaining profitable.
As in many fields, the Collaborative Age is the Age of production for the individual of customized products. Pharma is just one example. The revolution in manufacturing will bring the same result – produce widgets one by one, on demand.
In the medical field, medicine is becoming more and more individualized. Genetic factors are increasingly taken into account before administering medicines or X-rays, as sensitivities vary. Soon we won’t get mass produced drugs but drugs specifically generated in dosage and type for our own case.
The Fourth Revolution is the era of narrow niches – so narrow that it addresses an individual. Are you still stuck in the mindset of mass production? Change now to understand the world as it transforms!
