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Over the past 10 years, the industry has seen the emergence and advancement of technologies in the clinical trial process,
including electronic data capture (EDC), electronic Patient Reported Outcomes (ePRO), and the electronic Common Technical
Document (eCTD).
Such advances have had a tangible impact on streamlining the delivery of clinical trials. However, despite the fact that up
to 80% of all trials are outsourced to third parties, the selection of a suitable CRO partner still involves a labor intensive
procurement process that is often costly-in time and money-to both sponsor and CRO alike, and can involve a significant paper
trail.
A global electronic procurement (eProcurement) report released by SPG Media Research in 2007 indicated that approximately
90% of businesses worldwide are now involved in some form of eProcurement, and highlighted that key decision makers are incorporating
them into overall organizational cost reduction strategies.
It's estimated that the U.S. business sector is now saving $700 billion dollars per annum by employing an eProcurement approach.
In the life sciences, eProcurement solutions are well-established and have proven to reduce costs through streamlining the
purchasing of lab products, IT equipment, and office supplies. Such platforms can also integrate with internal financial systems
offering significant time savings.
What's going on
In 2007, SciQuest and Invitrogen Corporation embarked on an eProcurement partnership-the first of its kind within the life
sciences industry-to deliver a multivendor platform to targeted sponsors that allowed them to recognize efficiencies and have
more control over their purchasing practices, which delivered significant savings in their organizations.
Within the pharmaceutical industry, many eProcurement-based processes have begun to govern outsourcing practices.
eProcurement platforms and electronic document management systems such as the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform and Microsoft's
SharePoint are being employed in the tendering process, with contract service providers progressively more incorporated in
the eProcurement infrastructure developed by sponsors.
Commercially available platforms such as these can reduce the tasks of distribution, receipt, and tracking of tender submissions
to help streamline and manage the entire procurement process.
Electronic tendering has recognized business benefits in reducing the tender cycle time and paper trails, accompanied by a
reduction in costs to both buyers and suppliers. The systems enable faster response times to questions and clarification points
during the Request for Proposal (RFP) process and provide robust electronic audit trails for sponsors. From a CRO perspective,
however, the time to complete responses can be increased, as there is a tendency from sponsors to request additional information
to supplement the proposal.
Limiting factors
Online electronic auctions have enabled sponsors to create interactive and real-time bidding environments as part of preferred-provider
selection initiatives.
Although this technology is increasingly employed by a number of pharmaceutical companies, the approach offers limited interactivity
and still represents a detached and transactional shopping-cart approach to CRO-sponsor interactions, with limited opportunity
to develop the relationship outside of a formal-bid defense process.
A further limitation of current eProcurement solutions is the continued reliance on "traditional" proposal and pricing documents
that are uploaded onto an eSourcing platform.
However, the current evolution of more long-term strategic relationships, exemplified by the established association between
Wyeth Research and Accenture, the Functional Service Provider (FSP) initiative pioneered by Pfizer in 2003, and more recently
Lilly's contract with Covance for clinical and preclinical research services over the next 10 years, highlights a desire to
develop more collaborative partnerships and greater transparency within the industry.
If a more interactive approach to the tendering process were adopted, it could engender greater transparency at the earliest
stages of the CRO-sponsor relationship. This would help establish a more collaborative and trusting environment to maximize
the chance of successful study delivery.
Such a strategy has clear advantages to both CRO and sponsor. In such an aggressive and highly fragmented marketplace-there
are currently around 1100 CROs worldwide-CROs need to differentiate themselves from competitors at the earliest stage of the
sales cycle. The proposal often provides the first opportunity for sponsors to assess the capabilities and expertise of an
organization, and can be indicative of a CRO's ability to deliver a quality product whilst working to a tight deadline.
