The impact of computing technology on pharmaceutical and biotech research

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies continue to make investments in research techniques including those using high-performance computing technology. Much of this research is fueled by the need to analyze the ever-growing store of genomic and proteomic data. However, many research and development investments, including techniques to mine newly produced genomic data, have not provided the anticipated improvements in productivity. This raises the questions of whether advancements expected from next-generation computing technology can translate into tangible benefits for pharmaceutical and biotechnology researchers, and whether researchers can capitalize on an increased understanding of biological systems using tools made more readily available in high-performance computing. The author provides some background on the source of the advancements in the computing industry and offers examples from other scientific applications that point to potential benefits in life science research.