Capacity planning becoming a critical success factor for drug developers, says Tufts

Within the research-based pharmaceutical industry, growing pressure to bring new products to market faster and more efficiently is transforming clinical trial capacity planning and forecasting from an important area of concern to a critical success factor, according to a panel of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry leaders recently convened by the USA-based Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

While blockbuster drug sales previously did much to assure overall company success, financial health today depends on companies getting more products to market under tighter budgets, the group noted.

Kenneth Kaitin, director of Tufts CSDD: said: "Most drug companies historically decentralized their approach to capacity forecasting, which made it difficult to coordinate scarce resources. Going forward, companies recognize the need to transform capacity planning into a core competence based on an accurate understanding of resource costs."