Accelerating drug development and gaining efficiencies with digital
The opportunity
Charles River Laboratories, a prominent pre-clinical contract research organization (CRO), plays a pivotal role in the drug development ecosystem. It conducts research, development, and safety testing before a life-saving drug ever gets to market. Partnering with pharma, biopharma, biotech, industry, and academia, Charles River contributes to over 85 percent of FDA-approved therapies, supporting companies in bringing novel treatments to market.
The world has seen innovation and acceleration of therapies like the COVID-19 vaccines in ways that are extraordinary. Historically, these therapies took 5 to 10 years to develop. Yet, during the COVID-19 pandemic, society united to achieve the same feat in just 9 months. Charles River played a central role in this, which reinforced its aspirational goal: what if they were able to universally subtract a year or more out of the drug development process? What kind of scalability would that take? What kind of fundamental reimagining of processes would it take? To achieve its goals, Charles River embarked on a transformation into a digital enterprise, providing their pharmaceutical clients with expertise, seamless offerings, and digital delivery.
Aspirations behind the transformation
—Mark Mintz, Corporate Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Charles River Laboratories
Adopting design thinking and becoming customer-centric is crucial for reimagination. We need to start with understanding how customers work with us, their environment, challenges, and successful interactions, and use that information to determine how best to reimagine the process to meet their needs while achieving our objectives.”
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Key elements of the transformation
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