Virtonomy GmbH has developed an end-to-end platform that combines digital twin models with artificial intelligence, multi-physical simulations and predictive analytics. In a first step, this technology will be used to carry out the development of medical devices and the evaluation of clinical interventions in a virtual environment, thereby reducing risks, costs and regulatory burdens. This development is strongly supported by the EU Commission and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which predicts that more than 40% of the approval process will be covered by virtual patients and simulations in the next few years. The medium-term vision is the establishment of digital twins in personalised medicine.
The cost of regulatory evidence is currently higher than sales growth in the medical sector. Digital testing methods throughout the entire development and authorisation process can accelerate the preclinical and clinical phases and significantly reduce costs. This also enables the development of new treatment solutions for rare diseases, such as solutions for paediatric and adolescent patients.
Today, animal testing is associated with very costly and time-consuming trial-and-error iterations in which many animals have to be used. With the virtual test environment, which also includes animal models, the number of animal experiments can already be greatly reduced with the aim of replacing them completely. The protection and welfare of animals is also an area that is increasingly covered by EU legislation.
Another aspect of the use of computer simulations is to create more equity in the research, development and clinical testing of medical products. Currently, certain groups such as children, women and various minorities are underrepresented in these contexts. Virtonomy can close this gap with virtual patients.
