Planning and Budgeting

Inefficient Budgeting and Planning

A West coast-based biotech company faced challenges during the outsourcing of their previous Phase II respiratory clinical trial. Without a clear understanding of a fair budget, they struggled through negotiations, relying heavily on the CRO, and seven months post-RFP, they still lacked a finalized budget or contract. For their next study, the biotech sought to avoid similar issues and streamline the outsourcing process. Determined to enhance their budget creation and outsourcing, they aimed to gain more control over the RFP process. The company wanted a solution that would provide financial clarity, enable effective negotiation, and improve the overall efficiency of their clinical trial outsourcing. After their previous experience, they were open to adopting new technologies and approaches to prevent costly delays and to get better value from the CRO bids.

PORTFOLIO Automates Budgeting Processes

To overcome these challenges, the biotech turned to Strategikon Pharma’s Clinical Maestro® platform. This platform offered them the tools to create study models using industry benchmarks and automate their RFP process. The Sponsor created an RFP directly in the system, which allowed them to invite CROs to bid in both “bid-to-spec” and “bid-to-expertise” scenarios. Clinical Maestro enabled comprehensive analysis of bids, providing clear side-by-side comparisons of CROs’ strategies and assumptions. This transparency, combined with the system’s automation capabilities, streamlined the entire process—from setting up study models to managing bids and contracts—significantly improving due diligence and negotiation efficiency.

Faster Outsourcing, Reduced Costs

Using Clinical Maestro, the biotech cut their outsourcing time by four months and saved $800,000 in direct costs. The time from RFP to final budget was twice as fast compared to traditional methods. The company was able to thoroughly vet CRO bids, ensuring fair market value and creating greater negotiation leverage. As a result, they experienced 25x ROI within just four months of using the platform.

Improved Budgeting with PORTFOLIO

The biotech achieved a significant return on investment and process efficiency using Clinical Maestro. The platform enabled faster decision-making, effective cost control, and improved vendor transparency. With these results, the company plans to use Clinical Maestro for their next three studies, confident in its ability to solve ongoing outsourcing challenges.