Industry introduction
The biotech industry has shown great performance and growth during an unprecedented time of global disruption; however, many long term issues have not yet been resolved. Many new therapies consist of highly sensitive and, more often than not, patient-specific material that require special processing and handling, impacting all aspects of the value chain. Companies have to make decisions based on risk and reward, and successfully bringing these advanced therapies to market – and to the patient – requires careful planning and consideration early on.
The main challenges we see for biotech, CGT and advanced therapy supply chains
- New ways of planning
- Changing manufacturing models
- Ramp-up and scaling
- Specialized fulfillment
- Cold chain management
New ways of planning
Building a responsive and flexible supply chain is key for these specialized treatments with often very short product shelf life.
Patient populations are limited and treatments are often one-time only.
Planning manufacturing slots internally or at CDMOs requires an extra layer of coordination, including healthcare professionals and patient intake at treatment centers.
Changing manufacturing models
Traditional pharmaceutical supply chains rely on centralized manufacturing.
New therapy value chains operate much closer to the patient, driving a re-evaluation of existing operating models.
Ramp-up and scaling
When moving from Phase I/II to Phase III trials and commercialization, one of the biggest challenges is to ramp-up to commercial scale production.
This impacts all processes, functions and systems.
Specialized fulfillment
Biotech and CGT companies require highly specialized logistics partners that can handle sensitive materials under strict time constraints.
Integrating these partners is often a bottleneck and can have dramatic consequences.
Cold chain management
To be successful, sound cold chain management processes are required for product efficacy, product safety, and adherence to relevant regulatory or patient requirements.
Today, companies are competing every day more and more for capacity in an already constrained market.
How we help the biotech & CGT industry
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CGT operations planning and scheduling (Binocs)
Our Binocs SaaS solution is used by many CGT companies to execute their CGT patient journey in real-time. Scheduling patient journeys with confidence, resolving resource conflicts, and orchestrating the entire CGT supply chain to deliver life-saving therapies to more patients.
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Smart planning optimization
Our business consulting teams help to introduce new planning concepts that complement traditional pharma supply chain planning, focused specifically on advanced therapies.
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Supply chain systems
Our business and technology experts work together with many biotech companies who are in the midst of commercialization to implement the new supply chain systems and capabilities that are required to support new product launches.
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Cold chain management
Working closely together with specialist logistics providers and other relevant distribution partners, we help companies to set up the fresh/frozen cold chain models they need to ensure product conditions are kept within optimal ranges.
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Patient-specific supply chains
Operating a supply chain to deliver patient-specific treatments is substantially different from traditional (pharmaceutical) supply chains. We help to build the patient-specific supply chains of the future.
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