TECHNOLOGY SPONSOR: Semi-Solids
TriRx Pharmaceutical Services, one of That's Nice's Road to 2021 sponsors, discusses how the company is envisioning the future of the pharma/biopharma industry.
The industry is facing revolutionary change — the cost of healthcare is the single largest socioeconomic issue in every country around the world. The industry continues to be one of the leading sources for preventing disease and improving quality/longevity of life while reducing per capita expenses. Pharma will continue to evolve by advancing gene therapy, progressing individualized medicines, improving speed to market, and reducing the price of medicines.
Trends Going Forward
Manufacturing and supply chains will be an ever-increasing component to the costly delivery of care. To become more efficient and significantly reduce costs, there will be increased use of CDMOs and outsourcing, with integrated project teams between customers and suppliers being key to success. The few CDMOs who are most effective at providing access to facilities, open lines of communication, and real-time information will set a higher standard of industry performance and deliver the critical requirements of on-time, in-full delivery, compliant with regulatory requirements and at a fair price.
Collaboration among all components of the supply chain is crucial to timely, cost-effective delivery. The ability to integrate systems, projects, and communication lines between suppliers and customers is more important than ever. The industry now expects dedicated CDMO project leaders that provide stewardship for each customer’s product as if it were their own. Increasing visibility of available capacity and increasing capacity utilization will also be key to rapid response. Regulatory cooperation to reduce bureaucracy will reduce response time and make lifesaving medicines available quickly.
There are a number of critical disruptive technologies under development: continuous flow processing, 3D printing, parametric control/release, CAR-T technologies, other individualized processing technologies, drone delivery, single-use technology, and the IoT. Improvements in drug development that significantly reduce adverse effects and increase effectiveness, including making drugs more bioavailable through controlled release, will transform the patient experience. Though they may yet remain far off, regenerative medicine and medicines by design will revolutionize the industry further.
CDMOs Remain Critical
CDMOs are a critical link to increasing efficiency and capacity utilization and reducing per-unit cost of medicines. At TriRx, we apply Lean Six Sigma processes to everything we do. Standardization of systems and processes is a goal, so we are constantly integrating as we acquire new sites to ensure that all of our operations are on the same system. We especially focus on a quality systems approach to operations to assure consistency and to meet (or exceed) regulatory requirements.
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the industry, including more efficient collaboration with regulatory authorities and better interactions with customers. We are constantly challenging ourselves to find ways to use technology in a more customer-centric manner, and virtual meetings and tours provide our customers with real-time access to our people, our sites, and our events. The pandemic has also led to better delivery through renewed supply chain relationships.
We continue to grow organically and through acquisition to become an industry leader providing a cost-effective, secure source of supply for the world’s medicines. We will be investing in critical capabilities and dosage delivery technology to be a winner in the consolidation activities afoot and to continually increase productivity and efficiencies. We will always focus on delivering on our commitments to our customers and the patients they serve.
