Sharp Enhances IRT Solution with Latest Investment

Sharp-part of UDG Healthcare plc, a global company in contract packaging and clinical supply services-has announced a $650,000 investment into enhancing its Interactive Response Technology (IRT) solution.

The company’s clinical services division supports pharma and biotech clients from phase I trials all the way through to commercialization.

Sharp’s IRT solution is used to manage patient interactions and drug supplies during clinical trials and perform a range of functions for sponsors, drug depots and investigative sites.

The enhancements include:

• The addition of a supply forecaster which will predict patient enrolment and clinical supply consumption.

• A warehouse return system to perform accountability for returns from clinical sites.

• Integration with the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system which will improve integration across its internal divisions and with customers.

• Introducing dynamic randomization with minimization and simulation. This simulator will help determine dynamic randomization impact on the treatment type and allow sufficient clinical supplies to be allocated to the clinical study.

Speaking on the investment, Eddie Montoya, newly appointed IRT specialist at Sharp, said: “At Sharp, we want to reduce the cost of clinical trials to the benefit of sponsors and patients.

“One of the tools that helps us deliver this goal is IRT. The data management side of clinical trials costs around 30% of the overall cost - IRT mitigates this cost by ensuring the integrity of trial data and that data is collected and exchanged in the most efficient way possible.

“IRT also reduces drug waste by ensuring the right amount of drug goes to the right place at the right time.

“The enhancements to our solution will bolster its performance and help make clinical trials more efficient and reliable, which will lead to savings for our clients around the world.”

The investment is the latest made by Sharp into its clinical capabilities to support growing demand for its services. The company has invested over $30 million across two state-of-the-art clinical service facilities in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Rhymney, UK.

Sharp offers a full complement of clinical trial services including analytical, formulation development, clinical manufacturing/packaging, as well as storage and distribution. The organisation has over 32 depots globally, covering every region of the world and offers Qualified Person (QP) services for European distribution.

Eddie Montoya will also be hosting a webinar: ‘How to leverage clinical IRT to improve clinical trial efficiency’ on 27^th March – further information is available on the Sharp website.

ABOUT SHARP

Sharp, part of UDG healthcare, is a global company in contract packaging and clinical services. Operating from eight state-of-the-art facilities across the US and Europe, Sharp has built an international reputation for delivering cost- effective blister packaging, bottling, secondary assembly and labelling of injectable presentations, compliance packaging, formulation and manufacturing services, label design and printing. We are also a world leader in ’Track and Trace’ and serialization services, with over 11 years’ experience in implementing serialized solutions for our pharma clients.

For more information on Sharp and its solutions, visit www.sharpservices.com or follow us on LinkedIn, and Twitter.