In today’s high-pressure clinical research environment, even small delays can impact outcomes. As trials expand globally and protocols become more complex, a single disruption in supply chain logistics can result in missed milestones, elevated costs and setbacks that keep breakthrough therapies from reaching the patients who need them.
Clinical trial delays are extremely expensive for sponsors—and, indirectly, for CROs. A 2023 study conducted by researchers at the Tufts Center for Drug Development found that a single day’s delay can cost more than $600,000 in unrealized prescription drug sales plus increased trial costs. For CROs operating within fixed or milestone-based budgets, delays threaten margins, but they can also harm the organization’s reputation and relationships within the industry.
“In drug development, clinical supplies and medications are expensive,” says Louise Oliver, Ph.D., CRO Strategic Operations Manager at Almac Clinical Services. “But delays are even more expensive. That’s why CROs need a supply chain partner they can trust to ensure that medicines get to the right patient, at the correct temperature, at the right time. This takes expertise—an understanding of the drug product itself, its origin and its destination—but it also demands collaboration across an extensive global supply and distribution network.”
Almac Clinical Services earns the trust of its CRO partners by deeply understanding their industry, cultivating relationships between teams and integrating digital technologies that deliver 24/7 visibility across global supply chains.
Overcoming logistical barriers
The clinical supplies piece of study delivery is critical when operationalizing studies, but it is often overlooked. Drug packaging and supply management tend to be considered late in the trial timeline, leaving teams to operate under intense time pressure. Yet if the logistics break down, patients are negatively impacted and the trial will stall, no matter how strong the underlying science.
“CROs tell us their biggest hurdles are compressed timelines, frequent protocol amendments and global regulatory complexity,” Oliver explains, “At Almac, we have an extensive global depot network that accelerates distribution, and our dedicated project managers anticipate risks before they impact timelines. Our teams are trained to push for the information they need to minimize delays and get medicines to patients.”
Logistics professionals must be able to interpret data, make sound judgment calls, and maintain productive relationships with CROs, vendors, suppliers, couriers, procurement teams, and other stakeholders. Oliver says, “That’s why we partner closely with our CRO clients—working alongside them to achieve this.”
Leveraging advanced technology without losing the human touch
Pharmaceutical and clinical trial supply chains are comprised of a complex web of interpersonal and organizational relationships. Technology and automation are currently transforming clinical trial operations by enabling real-time visibility into what’s taking place within those relationships. Dashboards, IRT integrations and automated alerting can mitigate risks and increase efficiencies.
However, clinical supply chain management remains a service-based business, and human relationships cannot be automated. Success in this industry depends on balancing technology-driven efficiency with personal attention.
“Our supply chain managers are trained to interpret data and make judgment calls,” Oliver explains. “We use automation for speed, but that goes hand in hand with human expertise for adaptability and to provide that personal touch. Customer service remains the bread and butter of our industry. We’ve been successful because our operations leads take the time to know and understand our CRO clients, their cultures, their priorities and their challenges.”
Investing in relationships that drive success
In pharmaceutical supply chain services, the best outcomes are achieved through collaboration. When silos and communication barriers arise, risks can be overlooked and foreseeable problems may fall through the cracks. As trials and protocols become more complex, information-sharing on a global scale becomes more and more important.
Standardizing processes ensures consistency, Oliver says: “Relationship governance is very important to us at Almac Clinical Services. Successful relationships with CRO partners are not vendor-to-vendor relationships, they’re true partnerships grounded in open and honest communication. We work across the CRO structure. We build relationships with vendor management and procurement, supplies teams and clinical operations. We partner at all levels across the CRO organization. We provide dedicated teams, shared visibility through our customer-focused platforms and shared visibility across regions. A single point of contact simplifies communication, so CROs experience ACS as part of their own team.”
Almac regularly engages in knowledge-sharing with its CRO partners as a core element of its governance model. It’s essential that CRO and CMO teams understand one another’s processes, as well as their respective roles and responsibilities, to ensure alignment and efficiency throughout the trial lifecycle. This collaboration is reinforced by ACS’s culture of care, which drives teams across the organization to deliver personalized service that goes well beyond contractual obligations.
“Our partnerships are a two-way street,” Oliver explains. “We take the time to listen to the feedback our customers give us, and we see that as a reciprocal process. Clinical trials don’t always go according to plan, so once issues are resolved, we have open conversations about what went wrong and what we can learn from it. People may not always remember the specifics of the challenge, but they do remember how we handled it. They remember that we took action—and how we made them feel.”
At Almac, these interactions are guided by the company’s “Supply with Care” philosophy, which emphasizes keeping human relationships and patient care at the center of everything they do. This mission drives Almac’s pursuit of quality and operational precision, enabling the company to deliver service excellence at scale.
Understanding the cultures, challenges and priorities of CROs
Almac is a preferred partner to many of the world’s leading CROs. The company has earned this distinction by investing in understanding CROs’ priorities and hiring experts in Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and CRO operations.
Personalized service is central to our approach,” Oliver explains. “We have dedicated CRO Operational Leads, who are not only experienced supply chain professionals, but who also know and understand CROs and their culture—a unique role within the CDMO space. That’s what they’ve studied and focused on throughout their careers.”
Almac continuously studies the CRO industry and operating models to better understand their clients’ needs and how to drive excellence.
“CROs are a really fascinating group of clients,” Oliver says. “They’re a barometer of what’s happening in pharma. This industry has seen a great deal of geopolitical change over the last few years, and CROs have borne the brunt of it. Funding has been constrained, budgets are taking longer to get approved and pass-through costs are being scrutinized by sponsors. They want to ensure value.”
“We’ve established a culture of empowering project teams, we respect each other’s expertise, we believe in open and honest communication, and we measure, monitor and drive excellence through our Key Performance Indicators,” Oliver continues. “These efforts foster a culture of joint continuous improvement with our CRO partners. We’re proud to help them deliver trials on time and with confidence.”
To learn more about Almac Clinical Services visit: https://www.almacgroup.com/clinical-services/
