Pharma Solutions – Supply Chains and Sourcing Comparators Part 3

By delivering automated logistics management, drug supply savings and real-time project information, IVRS can provide a sophisticated method of optimising and managing the clinical trial supply chain. For at least the past decade, IVRS has been employed in combination with direct advertising to speed up recruitment of participants.

For the rest of this report, please visit our pharma solutions resource centre.

Systems of this kind use the telephone as a means of data input, with pre-recorded prompts giving the user a multiple-choice method of providing vital information. Use of IVRS is now a tried-and-tested tool in efficient clinical trial management, but it also presents a number of distinct challenges.

Difficulties with IVRS

Pharma IQ polled key members of the clinical trial supply community on the biggest challenges facing them in terms of using IVRS to boost the efficiency of clinical trial management. Interestingly, a third of the survey's respondents said establishing potential efficiency savings, compared with their current methods, presented the most difficulty.

Perhaps unsurprisingly cost emerged as another key concern among firms employing IVRS in clinical trials. Almost 28 per cent singled out the task of managing the financial impact of investments in voice response systems as their main difficulty. An equal proportion of 27.8 per cent said user friendliness was their biggest concern, while choosing the right software and point of contact were found to be the IVRS challenges preoccupying the fewest clinical trial supply professionals.

Future plans

Finally the Pharma IQ survey enquired as to the main concerns of companies running clinical trials in the year ahead. Emerging markets were found to be one major area of interest, with 22.2 per cent of respondents saying their main goal in 2012 would be to move into Asia. Similarly, almost 17 per cent were reviewing the possibility of moving trials to Russia.

Elsewhere, around a third of the pharma professionals surveyed said eliminating expiry dates was the main objective of their organisation for the year ahead. Implementing an IVRS system was named a key priority for 22.2 per cent of respondents, while designing a pooling approach was selected as the main goal for 2012 by 28.8 per cent.

For analysis of the strengths of many different pharma solutions, please visit our dedicated resource centre. You will also find a great deal of information across all areas of the pharma industry in our whitepapers, webinars and articles.