Outsourcing Pharma and Marken President Ariette van Strien discuss the complexity of decentralized trials and considerations for crafting a strategic supply chain approach. They also discuss how sponsors can successfully incorporate Direct to- and Direct-from Patient services and home healthcare into decentralized studies.

Contract Pharma and Wes Wheeler, President of UPS Healthcare, discuss the partnership between Marken and THREAD, a decentralized clinical trial technology provider. The partnership brings together Marken’s Home Healthcare and clinical trial logistics services and THREAD’s digital platform to create a central application where patients can track drug and ancillary material shipments, request specimen pickup, find a drop-off location and schedule a home healthcare provider visit.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted both the strengths and weaknesses of the pharmaceutical supply chain. In this article for peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Studies, Rey Roman, Marken’s Senior Director of Regulatory Compliance, discusses the lessons learned from the disruption the pandemic caused to trade, distribution, logistics and quality, and how that led to a stronger clinical supply chain.

Outsourcing-Pharma and Nina Vas, Marken’s Vice President, Clinical Distribution, Cell and Gene Therapy Supply Chain, discuss the specific requirements involved in the clinical trial supply chain for cell and gene therapies and other personalized medicines, which differs dramatically from small molecule therapies and requires an appropriately personalized approach.

From two-hour grocery delivery to telehealth visits, consumers have come to expect convenience, immediacy and personalization from everyday service providers. Clinical trial patients are no exception. To execute truly patient-centric clinical trials requires a supply chain strategy that includes a wide variety of services, delivered seamlessly. In this article, Patty Murdock, Marken’s Senior Director of Global Patient Centric Services and Project Management, describes the components of a patient-centric supply chain ecosystem.

The distribution structure is the engine that drives decentralized clinical trials (DCTs). Reliable, yet flexible storage, tracking and technology, among other variables, work in tandem to ensure the integrity of DCTs. What makes an effective DCT supply chain partner? Marken’s Vice President, Clinical Distribution, Cell and Gene Therapy Supply Chain, Nina Vas, and Senior Director of Global Patient-Centric Service, Gaurang Majmudar, discuss what your supply chain partner needs to execute DCTs with precision.

Outsourcing-Pharma and Marken’s Vice President, Clinical Distribution, Cell and Gene Therapy Supply Chain, Nina Vas, and Senior Director of Global Patient-Centric Service, Gaurang Majmudar, discuss the ways decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) challenge the supply chain compared to traditional trials. They examine the benefits of an experienced, single-source partner, why DCTs need a more agile supply chain and how to maintain security when shipping products directly to patients.

Only a clinical trial supply chain partner that exhibits global regulatory and trade compliance proficiency and transports shipments in a secure, compliant, closed-loop environment can successfully address the complex demands of the patient-centric supply chain. Marken’s Vice President, Clinical Distribution, Cell and Gene Therapy Supply Chain, Nina Vas, evaluates what is needed to develop a patient-centric supply chain in this article.

Marken President Ariette Van Strien addresses whether the momentum toward decentralized trials will continue after the pandemic: “As an industry, each and every one of us plays a part in ensuring that decentralized trials continue to take hold and find increasing traction and success,” she says. “The question of whether or not the momentum can be maintained post-COVID-19 simply isn’t a question or an option. It’s an imperative.”