Clinical Biospecimens Technology and Outsourcing

Managing Specimens, Partnering with Vendors, Mastering Hybrid Trials Strategies

March 3 - 4, 2021 ALL TIMES EST

The availability of high-quality biological specimens, laboratory access, and diagnostics services are of the utmost importance for biomarker-driven clinical trials and future research. The complexity and number of samples collected and analyzed during studies has increased steadily over the years and we need to come up with best practices, operational models, and IT solutions to deal with this volume and complexity. CHI’s 6th Annual Clinical Biospecimens Technology and Outsourcing conference brings together leading experts, clinical trial sponsors, and CROs to discuss challenges and identify actions to improve infrastructure for biomarker-driven clinical trials.

Wednesday, March 3

ENHANCING PATIENT-SITE CENTRICITY AND CLINICAL INNOVATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

10:55 am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:

COVID-19: How an External Event Redoubled Janssen’s Culture of Innovation

Darren Weston, Vice President, Integrated Data Analytics & Reporting (IDAR), Janssen

The external threat posed by the pandemic forced Janssen to reckon with longstanding cultural barriers to innovation. Faced with an urgent need to ensure patient safety and continuity of care, Janssen found a way to overcome these barriers and evolve the way they conduct clinical trials. Not only did Janssen minimize overall trial impact, but Janssen’s clinical operations have become more efficient and resilient in the face of future challenges. We will discuss the cultural and operational adaptations Janssen undertook to adapt to the pandemic environment and how we see these actions positioning us for the future.

11:20 am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Virtual Investigator Meetings During COVID-19 & Beyond
Steven Sulkin, Founder & CEO, SimuLyve International, Inc.®

Steven Sulkin, CEO, SimuLyve International

Marina Ziehn, PhD, Global Med. Affairs Dir. Neuroscience, Novartis

Markus Krüer, PhD, Head Clinical Project Mgt, Merz

Nico Wegener, PhD, Senior Clinical Project Mgr, Merz

Dave Matthews, Clinical Project Dir., Merz

 

Training worldwide staff on complicated protocols virtually with the added issue of language barriers can seem daunting. Our panel of virtual experts will show you how to perfect virtual skills and enhance virtual meetings.

 

11:20 am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:

Option 2: New Players and Innovators in Clinical Trials, the Impact of Non-Pharma Entrants...Meet Salesforce and CVS Health

Shwen Gwee, Vice President & Head, Global Digital Strategy, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Gary Gabriel, PhD, Healthcare and Life Sciences Lead, Salesforce
Lou Sanquini, Vice President, Life Sciences Group, CVS Health
11:45 am Tech Break, Transition to Interactive Breakout Discussions
12:00 pm Interactive Breakout Discussions - Visit Our Virtual Exhibit Hall

Join your colleagues and fellow delegates for a focused, informal discussion moderated by a member of our speaking faculty. A small group format allows participants to meet potential collaborators, share examples from their own work and discuss ideas with peers. View all topics here.

12:30 pm Session Break - Visit Our Virtual Exhibit Hall

OUTSOURCING BIOMARKER AND BIOSPECIMEN OPERATIONS

1:15 pm

The Challenges of Outsourcing Sample Collection during COVID-19 Pandemic

Mary Zuniga, Consultant, Translational Science Immunology, Eli Lilly & Co.

Developing biomarkers is key to delivering medicines that improve patient’s lives. Good biomarkers have the potential to confirm that the compound/study drug affects the intended biological pathway and confirm the mechanism of action and help with dose setting. Novel biomarker assays are developed by the sponsor and transferred to a performing qualified lab to have a fully qualified assay for a global clinical trial. Partnering between the sponsor, the CRO managing the trial, and the central lab to successfully meet timeline deliverables is a well-orchestrated production requiring open communication and flexibility.

Stephanie Weber, Vice President, SampleGISTICS, LabConnect

Labconnect continues to lead the industry in providing innovative strategies and solutions to the ever growing complexities of clinical trial virtual sample management. The complexities of sample collection and logistics in advanced therapy studies naturally brings chain of custody challenges in protecting the integrity of a trials’ high value samples. Topics will include end to end sample management strategies, logistical integration planning, real-time tracking and LIVE monitoring technologies.

1:55 pm

Outsourcing Biomarker Operations in Clinical Trials 

Kenna Sayers, Director, Vendor Management, Integrated Biomarker Operations, Merck

Outsourcing your biospecimens is a major decision but maybe the easiest decision in the whole process. Choosing a company to handle, track, and potentially process invaluable specimens as well as aggregate usable data can be a complicated process. This discussion will outline some of the items a company should consider when using an outside entity to manage biospecimens and their associated consents.

2:15 pm

Clinical Image Management and Exploration at Pfizer

Kris Kokomoor, Associate Director, Clinical Image and Specimen Management, Pfizer Global R&D Groton Labs
Chong Duan, Imaging Lead, Pfizer
2:40 pm LIVE PANEL DISCUSSION:

Best Outsourcing Practices in Biospecimens and Biomarkers and Beyond 

Panel Moderator:
Mary Zuniga, Consultant, Translational Science Immunology, Eli Lilly & Co.
Panelists:
Kenna Sayers, Director, Vendor Management, Integrated Biomarker Operations, Merck
Kris Kokomoor, Associate Director, Clinical Image and Specimen Management, Pfizer Global R&D Groton Labs
Stephanie Weber, Vice President, SampleGISTICS, LabConnect
Chong Duan, Imaging Lead, Pfizer
3:30 pm Close of Day

Thursday, March 4

MOVING TOWARD PLATFORM THINKING TO TRANSFORM PHARMA

9:00 am

Moving toward Platform Thinking: Creating a More Seamless Front-End and Back-End to Future-Proof and Advance Digital Transformation in Pharma

Panel Moderator:
Adama Ibrahim, Director, Digital Solutions & Technology & Platforms, Data & Digital Global Drug Development, Novartis Pharma AG

COVID has been a reality check for the biopharma industry and it is evident we should be focused on future proofing. We operate through webs of legacy systems, complex org charts and entrenched 'resistance to change' cultures. Platform thinking is the opposite. Imagine a patient or physician able to find, learn about and participate in clinical research similar to the way we all interact with our own financial services companies through apps and sophisticated yet simple technology solutions! This can be possible through common enterprise thinking and approaches that are adopted across the industry.

Panelists:
Mohammed Ali, VP Digital Analytics & Performance, GlaxoSmithKline
Hassan Kadhim, Director & Head, Clinical Trial Business Capabilities, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Craig Lipset, Founder & Advisor, Clinical Innovation Partners; Co-Chair, Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA)
Disa Lee Choun, Head, GCSO Innovation, UCB Pharma

OPERATIONALIZING HYBRID AND DECENTRALIZED TRIALS

9:30 am

Operationalizing Hybrid Trials 

Laura Whitmore, Head, Clinical Operations, Cerevel Therapeutics LLC

COVID-19 interrupted clinical trials globally and presented our industry with the challenge of continuing clinical research while ensuring patient safety and data integrity.  Cerevel Therapeutics analyzed ongoing trials to identify risks and implemented innovative solutions to meet those challenges, collaborating with a wide range of service providers to create a hybrid approach which supports patient needs, data requirements and site operations.   

10:10 am

Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Adoption of Decentralized Trials

Craig Lipset, Founder & Advisor, Clinical Innovation Partners; Co-Chair, Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA)

The Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance enables collaboration of stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of patient-focused, decentralized clinical trials and research within life sciences and healthcare through education and research.

Jonathan Andrus, MS, CQA, CCDM, Chief Business Officer, Clinical Ink

This past year has led to buzzword overload! In this session, we will cut through the buzzwords and learn about the realities of eSource/direct data capture (DDC) and how the use of this approach, although not new, can be applied to your clinical trial challenges that have become more prominent in our COVID world. 

Kenny Kong, Director, Life Sciences & Health IT, Exostar

Armed with laptops, VPN's, tokens, and a million different end points to log in to, clinical trials have gone digital forcing us to become more creative in how we manage technology; a necessary evil in decentralizing our trials.  As we adapt to the new norm, let's talk about some strategies to eliminate the noise of technology.

11:05 am Session Break

THE TOKENIZATION OF TRIAL PARTICIPANTS, SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDOH) & MOVING TOWARD PLATFORM THINKING TO TRANSFORM PHARMA

11:25 am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:

Option 1: Tokenization of Our Clinical Trial Participants

Kyle Holen, Head, Development Design Center, AbbVie Inc.

Unique, encrypted patient identifiers allow you to match the world's data with the people that participate in your clinical research studies.  The opportunities to learn more from the study participants are endless; however, there are significant legal and privacy concerns that need to be addressed.  This presentation will walk you through how to address these concerns, the implications to the consent and protocol, and how to implement at sites.

11:25 am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:

Option 2: Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) and Its Relevance to Clinical Trials

Laurie Myers, Director, Global Health Literacy, Merck & Co Inc

It is well documented that clinical trials have struggled to achieve equitable participation of racial-ethnic minorities and women. However, the role of social determinants of health (SDOH) on participation and retention rates of research participants in clinical trials has not been well studied. Additionally, there are a few studies that suggest SDOH may have an impact on clinical trial results, highlighting the importance for more studies to consider the SDOH as another dimension when developing clinical programs.

11:50 am Session Break - Visit Our Virtual Exhibit Hall

INVESTIGATOR/PATIENT-FOCUSED PLANNING, DATA SCIENCE AT SCALE & PANDEMIC-PROOF TRIALS OF 2030

12:10 pm

CO-PRESENTATION: Moving the Needle in a Large Clinical Trial Portfolio through Innovation and Communication: Sanofi's Patient and Investigator Site-Focused Programs

Vicky DiBiaso, MPH, BScN, Global Head, Patient Informed Development & Health Value Translation, Sanofi
Megan Heath, Vice President, Region Head, Clinical Studies Unit Europe, Sanofi

Thanks to a global effort focusing on reducing site burden, Sanofi rose to the #1 position in the CenterWatch Survey in 2019. This was the biggest jump any sponsor had achieved in consecutive surveys. In parallel, Sanofi has continued their patient-informed R&D model, bringing the patient voice into each of their programs. This has been the catalyst for various award-winning recognitions and further supported accelerated medicines development.

Julia Tarasenko, Vice President, Global Strategic Accounts, Marken LLP

Today’s decentralized and virtual trials require a shift to direct-to-patient (DTP) distribution to keep trials moving forward. Join us to explore opportunities to optimize a supply chain strategy that accommodates both direct-to-site and direct-to-patient services utilizing a global Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) depot network along with DTP and direct-from-patient (DFP) services

12:50 pm

Propelling into a New Era of Trial Optimization for Operational Success with Data Science-Infused Analytics and Technology

Miruna Sasu, PhD, Executive Director Global Development Feasibility & Advanced Analytics, Johnson & Johnson

The Janssen Global Development Feasibility team has built a sustainable global model to support every trial with data science and technology at an industrial scale. This presentation will focus on briefly showcasing several tools and algorithms that were built internally to bring unfathomable value and data-driven solutions to trial teams that aids them in making solid decisions on how to operationalize each trial for ultimate success and decreased patient and site burden.

Matty Culbreth-Notaro, Senior Vice President, Global Operations, ObvioHealth
Terry Plasse, Medical Director, RedHill Biopharma

COVID19 trials have been primarily managed in hospitals. Yet, the majority of symptomatic patients with COVID19 are recovering at home. RedHill BioPharma and ObvioHealth will share insights from a recently-launched, pioneering trial to test the safety/efficacy of an oral investigational drug - using a combination of mobile app, devices and assessments by in-home nurses.

1:30 pm LIVE PANEL DISCUSSION:

Pandemic-Proof Trials of 2030: Applying Lessons Learned from COVID-19

Panel Moderators:
Pamela Tenaerts, MD, MBA, Executive Director, Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI)
Lindsay Kehoe, Project Manager, Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative

For many clinical trials, survival during the pandemic has centered on transitioning to remote practices midstream. What have we learned from these remote experiences that should carry forth into future trials? How do we approach trial design and conduct in new ways to ensure the next generation of research is resilient? This panel will discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, provide recommendations for improved future trials, and outline a system-wide vision for clinical trials in 2030.

Panelists:
Janice Chang, Chief Operating Officer, TransCelerate Biopharma Inc.
Angie Botto-Van Bemden, PhD, Patient Advocate, Musculoskeletal Research International
Patricia Hurley, Director, Center for Research & Analytics, American Society of Clinical Oncology
1:50 pm SCOPE Summit 2021 Adjourns





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