Pharma Fiction

Regular readers of our ongoing feature – “The Multifaceted Future of Pharma” – will appreciate how science fiction has had (and continues to have) a profound influence on the life sciences industries as we know them. Back in 2018, University of Glasgow lecturer Gavin Miller wondered whether science fiction can be used as a guidepost for future biomedical technologies. Was he right?

The more I speak with experts who operate in and around the pharma manufacturing industry, the more I notice the influence of science fiction on their careers, as well as on the products and services they work with. During the making of the May/June 2024 edition of The Medicine Maker, I went so far as to ask a group of experts working to accelerate Industry 4.0 to offer a modern day comparison with a classic sci-fi book, film or TV series. With responses covering The Matrix, Gattaca, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, and “Star Trek,” there is little doubt that the genre continues to influence scientists and engineers alike.

I put a similar question to our 2024 Power List nominees, with equally inspiring results. However, it’s not just scientists, technology developers, and writers. The Creative Team here at The Medicine Maker have also used the appeal of science fiction over the years to remind us of the enduring sense of romance in the vision of a better or, at least, different future. Below, I share eight of my favorite science fiction-inspired images from our archive.

1. Taking inspiration from various covers of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the artwork in “Future Pharma” is particularly striking.
2. Back in 2020, we returned to 2001 for an issue of The Small Molecule Manufacturer.
3. Some of our Star Wars inspired artworks include “At the Immuno-Oncology Frontier” and…
4.  “Cell Wars: A New Hope.”
5. Alien inspired our February 2023 edition.
6. You can’t unsee the inspiration taken from the father of science fiction, Jules Verne, in “Predicting All Outcomes.”
7. Ex Machina is in the title of this 2018 Roisin McGuigan article predicting the effects of AI on drug development, but the art draws inspiration from Isaac Asimov – or Philip K Dick. Your preference.
8. And finally, the title and cover art of our 2023 Cell and Gene Supplementary eBook, titled “The Future Awakens,” bring to mind the master of science fiction, HG Wells.

Perhaps the enduring appeal of science fiction is akin to the appeal of improving ourselves, and the world we’re in. Players in the pharmaceutical industry regularly express the need for continuous improvement – of the product, the performance, and the self. As Wells himself said, “We need to constantly be challenging ourselves in order to strengthen our character.”