Clinical trial optimization at protocol design

The optimal kit design for a trial cannot be identified in isolation, and must take into account overall trial design, constraints and risk. N-SIDE clinical supply experts used the Supply App to assess the kit design possibilities for the three trials, resulting in a 24% reduction in material cost and 41% reduction in waste.

Having the facts about the impact of adjustments to the visit window allowed for clear assessment and early collaboration between the Clinical Trial Supply and Clinical Teams at Merck. This led to a €1.8m cost savings without impacting the patient centricity of the trial.

This particular clinical trial had an open-label comparator treatment arm and very high comparator sourcing costs. N-SIDE experts identified the opportunity to optimize the trial design and IRT settings together in order to avoid static buffers for the comparator, which led to an impressive €18m in cost savings.

N-SIDE experts tested the impact of accelerating the trial recruitment period. With these results, the Merck Clinical Trial Supply team was able to avoid all supply chain bottlenecks and achieved a 10 month acceleration in recruitment, while only needing to increase production by 12%.