Public safety is the world’s singular goal as mandatory quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, travel restrictions, and mandatory work-from-home policies go into effect to curb the spread of COVID-19. In response, many biopharmaceutical companies are shifting how they work: Amarin withdrew part of its field force, while Amgen and Merck have instructed their sales teams to halt all in-person meetings with physicians and hospitals.

Last year, when I left Cannes Lions Health, I wondered when the technology explosion would truly begin to trickle down into the hands of the average patient in the waiting room. I left the 2016 festival feeling the same way.