Asia’s fast-growing clinical trials sector gets a ‘shot in the arm’ with the launch of a new, web-based application, which is set to revolutionise the clinical trial supply chain.
As the pharmaceutical industry enters a new phase of rapid growth, with larger pipelines designed to get new drugs to market faster, the clinical research sector faces the challenge of maintaining tight controls over the process and budget of clinical trials. It is further compounded by the often-fragmented supply chain, and involvement of multiple stakeholders, creating the need for an effective management tool that delivers a true ‘helicopter view’ of the entire clinical study.
TNT TrialDat, a tool developed specifically for the clinical research sector, captures end-to-end data on a single platform, offering a dashboard view of all clinical material transport flows.
The ability to extract data on macro and micro levels enables stakeholders to significantly improve their supply chain visibility and support better decision-making for addressing the risk of study budget overruns.
In addition to unparalleled visibility, TNT TrialDat ensures site compliance. This ispossible as each booking is checked against study parameters to prevent any form of deviation, which facilitates greater control. Furthermore, TrialDat’s powerful reporting function allows customers to generate their own reporting down to site level information, improving productivity in terms of logistics management and time efficiency.
“TrialDat was developed specifically to enhance the TNT Clinical Express service, which has consolidated our position as the industry leader,” said Michael Drake, Singapore-based managing director of TNT Asia Pacific, Middle East &Africa. “It effectively builds on our current expertise, allowing our clinical research clients to optimise both cost and service, throughout their supply chain process.”
Singapore was selected as the global launch pad for TrialDat because of the country’s status as the region’s medical hub, and to reflect Asia’s growing importance in the clinical research sector. According to the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), Singapore currently has 500 active clinical research projects and the number of new projects is expected to double over the next three years.
TNT moves more than 500,000 clinical samples per year in Asia, a market that iscurrently valued at US$500 million and growing at 10-15 per cent year-on-year.