Infosys launches solution to tap clinical trial market

The country's second largest software services firm Infosys today launched a cloud-based version of its clinical trial supply management solution (CTSM) that will offer pharmaceutical firms reduced cost and faster time to market the new drug.
The new cloud-based module of the CTSM solution is an enhancement to the existing on-premise version that offers tools to manage all aspects of complex clinical trials, including demand and supply planning and distribution across clinical sites.
"Pharma companies spend billion dollars to launch a new drug. Also, the clinical trial process can last 10-12 years, following which they can a patent for 20 years. With the new solution, we wanted two things -- reduce cycle time and increasing cost effectiveness," Infosys Senior Vice President and Global Head (Life Sciences and Services) Manish Tandon told PTI.

As a result, enterprises can price products competitively while adhering to the stringent standards required to bring products safely to consumers, he added.
Also, since the solution would be available on a pay-per-use basis, it will eliminate the need to invest in or manage expensive infrastructure dedicated to clinical trial management for pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
According to a report by research firm Gartner, end-to-end business processes for CTSCs tend to be highly fragmented, span multiple functions and involve multiple enterprises.

Clinical trials are growing in scale and complexity, driving a need for business processes and systems that integrate the end-to-end activities, decisions and information across business functions.

With clients like GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical vertical accounts for about six per cent of the Bangalore-based firm's revenues.
"The solution, leveraging the power of SAP technology, will help life sciences enterprises gain critical competitive advantages through cost savings and productivity gains via efficient management of their clinical trial supply chains," he said.
Tandon added that though spending on technology in the sector has been relatively flat, recent M&A activities could improve the situation.
In April, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries agreed to buy generic drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories for USD 3.2 billion, while a month later, Bayer agreed to acquire Merck & Co.'s consumer unit for USD 14.2 billion.

"As the M&A deals fructify, a lot of work will come with integration and disaggregation of companies," he said.