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Today’s improvements in human health and longevity rest on the healthcare innovations of the past.
Preceding
Scientific advances can speed effective responses to future pandemics and health crises. Ten promising innovations are on their way.
Breaking through in health
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Health inequity
Those who are most vulnerable get hit first, and hardest.
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Prioritizing health: A prescription for prosperity
Succeeding?
But options are limited for effectively preventing or curing some diseases, and unpredictable health crises continue to pose a risk for societies and economies.
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In crisis
Innovative technologies can help address pandemics in at least four areas.
Prioritizing health:
A prescription for prosperity
Report – McKinsey Global Institute
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Responding to the great acceleration requires companies to experiment with and invest in new digital technologies.
The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001–2014
Journal of the American Medical Association
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The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001–2014
Journal of the American Medical Association
Beyond the virus
But today’s innovations go beyond viral outbreaks to address cancer, diabetes, heart disease, aging, and other health conditions.
1920
1940
1960
1980
2000
2020
2019–20
Recent advancements include the latest generation of highly effective and well-tolerated hepatitis C treatments, as well as the COVID-19 vaccine.
2003
First complete human genome is sequenced, opening huge new areas for medical research and paving the way for a range of new treatments for cancers and other conditions.
1968
First successful bone marrow transplant occurs, followed by many advancements in surgery.
1928
Penicillin is discovered, ushering in the so-called golden age of antibiotics.
1921
Insulin is discovered and used to treat diabetes.
A timeline of medical innovations
15
13
11
7
54
Cardiovascular disease
Mental health and neurological disorders
Cancers
Musculoskeletal disorders
Other
Percentage of global disease burden with limited treatments, by disease type
Prioritizing health:
A prescription for prosperity
Report – McKinsey Global Institute
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14 years
10 years
Men
Women
Gap in life expectancy between top and bottom 1 percent of population in the United States
Diagnosis
Suppression
and reduction
Prevention
Treatment
Treatment
Technologies based on siRNA, RNAi, T-cells, and stem cells could further expand the “tool kit” in which treatments for future pandemics might be found.
Treatment
Prevention
Broad-spectrum vaccines could help suppress future pandemics more quickly, while pathogen-specific vaccines protect at-risk populations. AI-accelerated vaccine development, along with nucleic acid–based manufacturing platforms, get vaccines to market faster and reinvent how they work.
Prevention
Suppression and reduction
Smartphones, location tracking, and analytics provide the means to create low-cost and widely accessible tools to predict, monitor, and interrupt disease transmission through populations.
Suppression
and reduction
Diagnosis
A rapidly spreading disease outbreak requires sequencing the genome of novel pathogens in days or weeks rather than months. Advances in omics and molecular medicine, which made a meaningful difference with COVID-19, are speeding sequencing time.
Diagnosis
Prioritizing health:
A prescription for prosperity
Report – McKinsey Global Institute
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Tech-enabled care delivery
Digital therapeutics
Robotics and prosthetics
Electroceuticals
Connected and cognitive devices
Advanced surgical procedures
Innovative vaccines
Cellular therapy and regenerative medicine
Next-generation pharmaceuticals
Omics and molecular technologies
Tech-enabled care delivery
Digital therapeutics
Digital therapeutics
Digital therapeutics—powered by artificial intelligence, patient data, and behavioral science—can help patients adopt and sustain healthy behaviors through gamification and other forms of engagement.
Robotics and prosthetics
Robotics and prosthetics
Next-generation exoskeletons, powered by small motors that mimic human muscles, could allow older patients to recover their autonomy while reducing the likelihood of accidents and falls.
Electroceuticals
Electroceuticals
Spinal-cord stimulation can improve patient quality of life, allowing increased mobility, enhanced sleep, and reduced need for pain medication.
Connected and cognitive devices
Connected and cognitive devices
Ultrathin e-tattoos can provide longer periods of heart monitoring and increase patient comfort while providing a wider range of data to enhance clinical decision making.
Advanced surgical procedures
Advanced surgical procedures
A cold saline solution could be injected into the patient on first contact to cool the body to 10–15ºC and stop its normal functions. This would allow time for the surgeon to operate before resuscitating the patient.
Innovative vaccines
Innovative vaccines
AT04A is a vaccine made up of molecules that bind to blood cholesterol and degrade it. The vaccine would be required only once a year, potentially improving outcomes.
Cellular therapy and regenerative medicine
Cellular therapy and regenerative medicine
CAR T-cell therapy reprograms a patient’s T-cells (immune-system cells) to target tumor cells; when infused into the patient, the T-cells bind to an antigen on tumor cells, attacking and destroying them.
Next-generation pharmaceuticals
Next-generation pharmaceuticals
Senolytics (a class of small molecules) may decrease or eliminate aging cells that can cause cellular inflammation, dysfunction, and tissue damage—delaying the occurrence of age-related diseases.
Omics and molecular technologies
Omics and molecular technologies
Genetic modification of malaria-carrying mosquitoes using gene-editing technologies (eg, CRISPR); this may potentially enable significant disease reduction by propagating the modified genes across the mosquito population.
Ten innovations that can improve global health
Article – McKinsey Global Institute
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Tech-enabled care delivery
Multichannel care delivery using online platforms may facilitate data sharing and improve treatment efficiency. This is particularly relevant for chronic diseases such as diabetes because patients’ glucose levels and other vital signs are continuously shared with the clinician.
Ten innovations that can improve global health
Article – McKinsey Global Institute