Sample management is a complex process. Clinical samples are often collected in many locations and then transported, stored, processed, and analyzed by multiple vendors. This fragmented approach to sample management can lead to spiraling storage costs, slow sample transfer times, data management difficulties, and poor chain of custody records. Learn more about the various drivers for outsourcing clinical sample management:
1. Centralization
Centralize the long-term storage of active/prospective clinical trial samples, legacy samples for future use, or regulatory retention samples to an external biorepository vendor capable of handling a variety of sample types (proteins, cells, viruses, bacteria, animal, tissue specimens) in multiple storage conditions. A centralized approach to storage helps ensure easy identification of sample locations, minimizes sample handling delays, and simplifies vendor management.
2. Speed
Many biopharmaceutical companies typically transition clinical trial samples to a long-term biorepository long after a clinical trial is completed. These samples are usually stored at several central/specialty laboratories or external biorepositories. However, when the company needs to retrieve samples quickly, the turnaround can take several weeks to receive. Time is of the essence and any delay in retrieval can have a major impact on the outcome of a study, making it crucial to identify a partner that offers quick sample retrieval and shipment across the globe.
3. Cost
During the life of an active clinical trial, a protocol team handles the trial budget to accommodate sample storage costs. This team gets disbanded at the end of the study, and unfortunately, sample storage continues to get charged to this budget instead of to the client directly. Thus, causing the client to lose sight of invoices and expenses. Outsourcing your sample storage to the right partner will give you complete access to sample and expense visibility with significant total lifecycle cost savings.
4. Visibility
It’s extremely important that your company can find, track, and manage inventory of samples, while also ensuring efficient logistics to manage the flow of materials between your company sites and your partners (central/specialty labs). What you need is an easy-to-use digital solution that provides 24/7 visibility to all samples stored at any location.
5. Quality
It is crucial to identify a quality management system that meets stringent GxP and diagnostic sample requirements. An integrated lifecycle management platform manages vendor relationships and standardizes sample handling processes to maintain sample quality, integrity, and accelerate clinical trial timelines.
6. Risk Mitigation
Protect your sample and data assets with carefully monitored and temperature-controlled facilities with secure access. Identify a partner with purpose-built repositories featuring multiple redundancies, business continuity, and pro-active risk management systems.
7. Logistics
Experience in storage, shipment, and tracking that ensures the highest sample integrity, and proven risk mitigation strategies to keep your irreplaceable assets secure is key to successful logistics. Maintenance of chain of condition, chain of identity, and chain of custody is crucial for clinical sample management.
8. Flexibility
Engage with an expert who can provide enhanced storage solutions that are flexible, efficient, integrated, and tailored to fit your needs. A biorepository that offers onsite, offsite, virtual, and/or hybrid storage models helps customize your clinical sample storage requirements.
9. Location
Partnering with a global network of interconnected biorepositories and sample bioprocessing laboratories accelerates clinical research timelines, reduces sample administration costs, and maximizes the value of your samples.
10. Sample Utilization
The usability of samples should be extended by securing the highest integrity of sample preparation and bioprocessing based on best-practice protocols. This includes:
- Sample consolidation
- Sample rationalization
- Sample harmonization
- Sample utilization
- Sample integrity
As a pioneer of Good Storage Practices (GSP), Azenta Life Sciences offers a complete, integrated clinical sample management solution, improving study timelines, increasing sample integrity, and optimizing sample utilization. With 8 biorepository locations spread across 3 different continents, we simplify your global sample management needs with sample retrieval and shipment in as fast as 24 hours. Our comprehensive approach ultimately helps to accelerate trial outcomes and patient health. At Azenta Life Sciences, we will collaborate with you to realize efficiencies by maximizing the value of your sample assets. Contact us today to learn how.