SWOT is often translated as “analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks”. According to this, the most important advantages of in-silico studies are cost and time savings in bringing a pharmaceutical product to market. In addition, the computer test can be repeated as often as necessary. The weaknesses include the fact that the development of reliable and validated models is costly and, that the experts' computer skills are still patchy. Furthermore, regulatory acceptance would not be guaranteed worldwide.

However, in-silico studies offer new possibilities, particularly in precision medicine and in the cost-intensive treatment of rare diseases. However, industry's trust in these methods could be weakened by a failure. A lack of international regulatory harmonization could lead to complications for companies.

Despite all this, it is now time for biomedical companies to carefully consider and weigh up investments in this innovative approach.

The study was funded by the European Commission as part of the H2020 project “In Silico World: Lowering barriers to ubiquitous adoption of In Silico Trials”.

Source:
Viceconti, M. (2024). In Silico Trials: An updated SWOT Analysis. Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14011927