Interest in private 5G on the rise among pharma, life science manufacturers, new research shows

As the US Food and Drug Administration advances its efforts to create an “Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Designation Program” to accelerate and improve drug development, interest in private wireless networks is growing among pharmaceutical manufacturers and life science companies.  A new IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Verizon, shows that 15 percent of such companies plan to research/deploy a private 4G/5G network in the next two years -- and that 21 percent are actively conducting research on private 4G/5G.

In January 2025, The FDA released its final guidance for its AMT initiative, stating on its website that “FDA encourages the early adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies by the pharmaceutical industry, which can improve the reliability and robustness of the manufacturing process and can benefit patients by enhancing product quality and reducing drug development time or increasing or maintaining the supply of drugs that are life-supporting, life-sustaining, of critical importance to providing health care, or in shortage.” 

The IDC InfoBrief reveals that life science manufacturers say they are looking at several private 5G-related use cases to improve quality, boost efficiency and enhance resiliency, which, according to experts, could yield process innovations eligible for “AMT” designation.

“From steelmakers to consumer goods companies, more and more manufacturers are using private wireless to transform their operations,” says Eric McClanahan, Senior Director, 5G Solution Architecture at Verizon Business. “With the FDA’s emphasis on fostering advanced manufacturing technologies, pharmaceutical manufacturers are thinking more strategically about their factory floor connectivity and what it can enable.”

Wide variety of use cases

The IDC InfoBrief shows that 41 percent of life science manufacturers say achieving “real time automation” is a primary use case for private 5G.  Another 41 percent say using Augmented/Virtual Reality for training, maintenance, and service support is driving their interest in private 5G.  “Product quality monitoring” was cited by 35 percent as a driver for integrating private wireless into their network design.

Whether or not they’re pursuing an AMT designation, pharmaceutical and life science manufacturers can advance their digital transformation efforts with private wireless-driven capabilities, says Karen Finger, Global Lead for Connected Health Strategy and Innovation, Verizon Business.

“In the race for faster drug discovery and development, private wireless-enabled digital twins provide a secure, high-performance foundation for real-time modeling and simulation,” Finger explains. “By integrating genomic data and AI-driven analytics, digital twins enable pharmaceutical and life sciences manufacturers to accelerate personalized drug discovery, development and clinical trials thereby reducing time to market, quality and patient safety.”

Further, the IDC InfoBrief has identified additional use cases that it says will help life science manufacturing organizations in their journey to become “digital native” -- while delivering near-term operational and financial gains. Among these capabilities:

• Prescriptive and augmented maintenance: Robust production equipment monitoring can predict failures and, with AI, suggest maintenance or servicing guidance, reducing time to repair and production downtime.

• Autonomous service parts management: Efficient parts management can leverage connectivity for real-time tracking and ordering, saving money and reducing downtime.

• Mobile workforce empowerment: Engineers and repair technicians can dynamically access on-demand manuals and schematics in factory areas where legacy connectivity can underperform and ensure maintenance records compliance, reducing repair time and repeat visits and bolstering customer satisfaction.

• Intelligent building energy management: Improving production facilities’ environmental monitoring can lower costs and enhance employees’ quality of work life, bolstering productivity.

A new white paper from Verizon also explores how integrating a private wireless network into manufacturing operations can help pharma and life science companies implement these and other innovative capabilities. “While advanced manufacturing technologies come in many varieties,” the white paper says, “they all have one thing in common: the need for robust, agile and reliable wireless network connectivity.”

Ease of integration is key

Notably, the IDC InfoBrief indicates that 34 percent of surveyed pharma and life science manufacturers expressed concern about “the complexity of integrating new and emerging technologies into existing network architectures,” calling this concern a “deterrent to digital transformation use case adoption.” 

However, the Verizon white paper points out that this concern is not as significant an issue as perceived by those surveyed. “Deploying private 4G or private 5G…does not require an end-to-end replacement of a company’s network infrastructure. A private wireless network can be seamlessly integrated into an existing network infrastructure; many companies use a mix of private 5G, Wi-Fi and fiber technologies to optimize operations across different facilities, such as offices, manufacturing plants, research facilities and distribution centers.”

“Advancements in healthcare, preventative medicine and life-saving medical science continue to rapidly evolve, and pharmaceutical companies responsible for providing the breakthrough medicines need expedited R&D processes, adaptive manufacturing, real-time analytics and supply chain workstream acceleration to succeed,” says Scott Hite, Associate Director, 5G Private Network & Edge Solutions at Verizon. “These critical improvements demand next gen, best-in-class advanced infrastructure capabilities.”