Today’s globalized pharmaceutical industry presents many opportunities for diversifying risk in manufacturing. Part of this diversification comes from the ability to spread manufacturing activities across continents. In order to successfully develop a portfolio of relationships, each CRO or CMO engaged must be viewed as a strategic partner and those contributing to projects must feel that they are contributing to the overall development efforts. There are many contract labs available that are capable of providing quality services. However, the best services come from personal relationships and not from a business model of services and transactions. In order to forge a successful strategic partnership, the following steps are essential:
- Know who you are working with (personal, infrastructure, capabilities/expertise and quality)
- Keep it personal (relationships first, finances/contracts second)
- Keep the CRO/CMO engaged (solicit thoughts/opinions, discuss/debate strategies, work collaboratively)
From a foundation of solid relationships, costs will decrease, quality will increase and significant cooperation in dealing with problems (timeline extensions, change orders, chemistry issues, etc.) will be realized.
