Client Challenge Faced
An emerging biopharma company had an inefficient and disjointed process for the selection of vendors to support study-specific activities, from service need identification through contract execution. They had difficulty aligning on needs and during the bidding process, leading to challenging bid comparisons and an over-reliance on Start-Up Agreements (SUAs)
TriRadial Approach
• Conducted cross-functional workshop to identify issues and recommended solutions
• Developed standardized competitive bidding process, including bid defense and vendor selection
• Created guidance for the specifications of the CRO RFP
• Designed a CRO budget grid for the selection process
• Documented the process and trained the teams on the process and on the tools
• Identified upcoming studies that could be candidates to pilot the new processes; conducted pilots
Results
• A clear bidding process, including guidance to teams and vendors on timelines and expectations
• At the study level, achieved 12,6% savings across the portfolio (13 Million Euros) in 2020 alone
• Standard tools
✓ CRO RFP tool (specifications and roles and responsibility matrix, including automations to facilitate completion by teams)
✓ RFP tools for ancillary services (central labs, specialty labs, medical imaging, etc.)
✓ Budget grids (CRO and ancillary services) to facilitate bid comparisons
✓ Vendor evaluation and selection forms for CROs and ancillary vendors to document vendor selection decision
• Successfully moved away from Start-Up Agreements
