For the biotechnology industry, the 2020’s have been marked by an era of high-speed innovation, particularly in AI-driven drug discovery and complex modalities like cell and gene therapies (1). While innovation is advancing rapidly, the challenge now lies in navigating the infrastructure and educational gaps that prevent these breakthroughs from reaching the patients that need them the most (2).
Below, we explore seven key issues affecting the biotechnology sector, with special emphasis on how virtual technologies, targeted medical education, and timely insight-gathering can help overcome them.
1. Limited HCP Awareness
Many healthcare providers (HCPs), especially in the community, are unaware or have limited awareness of new treatment modalities such as gene and cell therapies, biologics and biosimilars, and mRNA technologies (3). In addition, awareness surrounding advances in precision medicine, such as novel biomarker tests and companion diagnostics, may be suboptimal
To this end, it is first necessary to identify the knowledge gaps through direct insight-gathering with key opinion leaders (KOLs) and community HCPs. Depending on the findings, education and training can be tailored to meet the specific needs and preferred formats of prescribers.
2. Misinformation and Public Skepticism About Biotech Innovations
Although trust in scientists remains high overall (4), health literacy remains low among the general population (5), and misinformation about novel drugs, especially vaccines and mRNA platforms, is rampant in the post-pandemic era (6). This not only affects uptake but also patients’ willingness to participate in clinical trials.
This barrier will require a multi-pronged approach, targeting not only patients and the general public, but HCPs and patient advocacy groups as well. It’s not enough to let the data speak for themselves–scientific terms and numerical data must be communicated to the public using patient-friendly messaging and formats targeted to different demographics.
Likewise, HCP education and training on how to provide evidence-based information in an accessible and transparent way and to best guide patients in overcoming their concerns or misperceptions must be delivered in varied formats. These might include in-person small-group meetings, live and on-demand webinars, short videos or podcasts, interactive e-learning modules, and printed and digital patient-facing materials.
In special situations, such as hyper-personalized treatments, patients may have difficulty understanding complex genetic diagnostics and why they may (or may not) qualify for a drug. In this scenario, patient education delivered via immersive and interactive tools such as virtual reality or “digital twins” can help explain how the drug works and improve clinical trial enrolment and adherence.
3. Inconsistent Clinical Trial Awareness and Enrollment
Secondary to low HCP and patient awareness, many biotechnology manufacturers struggle with low patient recruitment for their clinical trials (7). Additionally, rising costs, increasingly rare or complex patient populations, and the desire for decentralized models may delay clinical trials and, in turn, adoption of novel treatments.
Here, medical education and awareness campaigns, especially when delivered virtually, can help spread the word among geographically dispersed HCPs of upcoming and actively enrolling clinical trials, including the eligibility criteria and the benefits of enrolling their patients. Further, virtual investigator meetings can be used to ensure standardized protocol adherence across global or national trial sites. If applicable, innovative digital tools such as virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) can be leveraged to train site staff on recognizing and managing rare but severe adverse events, administration or dose titration, and more.
4. Lack of Preparation for Handling and Storage of Advanced Therapies
Many novel therapies, such as gene therapies, require special storage conditions (e.g., ultra-low temperatures), which many clinics are unprepared for (8). Even before the products reach the clinic, the need for cold-chain logistics represents another potential barrier to more widespread use.
While part of the solution lies in better logistics and supply chain management, there is also an opportunity for biotech companies to provide interactive training modules or on-demand webinars for pharmacists, nurses, and other relevant staff on storage requirements, proper handling of cold-chain products, and common pitfalls.
5. Slow Adoption of Digital Health and AI Among HCPs
AI-driven diagnostics, digital biomarkers, and remote patient monitoring tools are slowly becoming more commonplace. However, while investments into AI and other digital technologies are rapidly increasing across the biotech and life science space, the current skill gap, both among the internal workforce and the end users, is a key barrier preventing successful adoption (9).
Secure virtual platforms can be used to deliver quarterly, monthly, ongoing, or as-needed AI training for cross-functional team members, HCPs, or investigators, allowing learners to get hands-on training in simulated environments. These can be supplemented with ask-the-expert webinars, on-demand bite-sized videos, or private online community boards for best practice-sharing or expert Q&A.
6. Ethical and Regulatory Compliance Challenges
With rapidly evolving regulatory requirements and ethical considerations, standards remain a moving target, making it a challenge for developers of innovative treatments to stay current and compliant (10).
Virtual advisory boards can gather real-time feedback from regulatory experts on evolving data requirements, enabling biotech firms to pivot their evidence-generation strategies well before a formal FDA or EMA filing. While there is also a role for internal education and training on regulatory guideline updates, it is key for this training to be nimble. To this end, digital training formats that can be quickly and easily updated as needed are preferred. Alternatively, establishing a ‘Knowledge Hub’ of sorts, where materials and updates can be shared asynchronously and experts can be made available to answer questions, is an option increasingly leveraged by some manufacturers.
7. Market Access and Pricing Barriers
The shift toward one-time treatments or cures, such as gene therapy, has created a massive hurdle for traditional and value-based reimbursement models (10,11).
Similar to above, there is a need to first gather insights from all relevant stakeholders–including, first and foremost, payers–to help Market Access teams better understand current barriers and demonstrate the long-term value of novel therapies. Subsequently, targeted training or education that helps address these barriers or knowledge gaps can be co-developed with advisors, KOLs, patients, or caregivers. Further, virtual mock panels with ex-payers can help biotech leaders stress-test their launch strategies under new pricing or market access constraints, ensuring they prioritize the right indications in their pipeline.
Conclusion
The era of “building the science and hoping the market follows” is over. As we enter 2026, the competitive advantage will belong to the biotech leaders who can bridge the gap between complex innovations and public understanding. To this end, there is a need to first audit current insight strategies and move from “one-off” advisory boards to a continuous, virtual insight model. This will help ensure quantifiable data that can influence R&D and commercial pivots in real-time. Second, manufacturers need to stop treating HCP and patient education as a post-launch checkbox, but rather as a pre-launch necessity. Lastly, virtual platforms and advanced digital technologies should be leveraged to maintain a direct line of sight to the patient experience and HCPs’ daily challenges.
While there are many challenges facing the biotech industry right now, there are just as many ways to overcome them. Biotech must be as innovative in how they educate and gather insights as they are in how they discover new drugs.
References
- https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/biotechnology-market
- https://www.openaccessjournals.com/articles/problems-faced-by-physicians-in-gene-therapy-18012.html
- https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/cell-and-gene-therapies-growth-innovation.html
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5
- https://www.chcs.org/media/Health-Literacy-Fact-Sheets_2024.pdf
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01037-2/abstract
- https://globalgenes.org/blog/the-vital-role-of-education-in-patient-advocacy-a-gene-therapy-perspective/
- https://www.cellandgene.com/topic/cell-gene-therapy-cold-chain
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40778-025-00249-y
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772632023000235#sec0013
- https://icer.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Managing-the-Challenges-of-Paying-for-Gene-Therapy-_-ICER-NEWDIGS-White-Paper-2024_final.pdf
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