Industry 4.0 technologies adoption for digital transition in drug discovery and development: A review

At present, every nation is focused on meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Automation of drug discovery, reliable research and innovation, green chemistry, and a lean discovery process are all critical components, where sustainability implementation is applicable. The current pandemic crisis has contributed to making society more familiar with the significance of advancements in this area. According to prior studies, the adoption of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies could contribute to sustainability across all areas. It is also observed that there are limited studies that discuss industry 4.0 enabling technologies implementation for drug discovery in the progress of attaining sustainability. To overcome previous studies' limitations, this study presented a detailed discussion of the significance of industry 4.0 enabling technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, machine learning, deep learning, metaverse, and digital twin. After advancing through the review, researchers not only get enlightened with various developments in the field of drug discovery using industrial 4.0 technologies but also understand the gaps for further research in this area. Finally, the study has suggested vital recommendations for future research such as digital twins will make the clinical trial process easier by reducing the requirement of volunteer subjects, Artificial intelligence and metaverse will deliver extraordinary in the field of medical education and drug discovery by giving an in-depth vision of drug-target interaction and effect of further modification on quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR).