Clinical trials can be a long and exhaustive process, often taking years – and that duration highlights the importance of clinical supply chain management. However, they’re a crucial part of a drug or medical device’s development cycle. That’s because drugs and medical devices cannot become available to the public until the clinical trials produce successful results.
Given the complexity and duration of clinical trials, supply chain management becomes crucial. Most pharmaceutical companies use industry-standard products like SAP for commercial supply chains. However, they don’t function nearly as well for clinical trial supply management.
As a result, they often seek clinical trial data management solutions and randomization and drug supply management solutions for clinical trials.
What are Clinical Trial Supply Chains?
Clinical trial supply chains are crucial for ensuring a clinical trial runs smoothly. Clinical trials regularly need materials. Therefore, clinical trial supply chains refer to order, manufacturing, transporting drugs or medical devices to ensure the clinical trial doesn’t halt.
Planning and monitoring these supply chain activities is easier said than done. As a result, their effective management is known as clinical trial supply chain management. Clinical trials require an uninterrupted supply of clinical trial materials timely. Otherwise, the results of the study can become compromised. Therefore, implementing robust supply chain management is essential.
Supply Chain Management and the Challenges
Supply chain management has a direct impact on clinical trials. That’s because trial participants require a continuous supply of trial materials. If the supply stops abruptly, the trial’s findings can become compromised. In addition, you want to ensure that you make adequate preparations for patients who might develop drug resistance over time. Likewise, you also want to ensure the trial medicines are standardized. Discrepancies in trial materials can also affect a clinical trial’s findings.
The most significant challenge for clinical trials is supply exhaustion. The pandemic has highlighted the inefficiencies of using lean supply chains that most pharmaceutical companies used. Although lean supply chains reduce excess inventories, they’re also vulnerable to disruptions in supply chains.
Managing Supply Chain for Clinical Trials
ClinicalPURSUIT has a clinical trial data management solution and clinical trial data management software beneficial for clinical trial researchers. We specialize in providing quality CTMS solutions. You can use these solutions to automate processes, receive real-time reports, and more. Clinical Pursuit also has other solutions for randomization and drug supply management. Try a free demo of Clinical Pursuit today.
