New software tool from Quintiles organizes the product-launch process

Said to bring the expertise of Quintiles clinical, commercial and consulting divisions into one structured IT solution, the Allume platform can combine primary and secondary data resources, while coordinating the involvement of corporate, manufacturing, clinical and other team members in planning and executing launch projects (see Figure). The product is designed to be used in conjunction with Quintiles’ consulting organization, although the range of services offered can be tailored to meet client needs, according to Michael Ackermann, SVP of global commercial solutions at the Research Triangle Park, NC, company.

“Getting commercial and payer perspectives into the development process as early as possible, and particularly as Phase II wraps up but before Phase III begins, is more important than ever in today’s healthcare environment,” says Ackermann. “At the same time, pharma companies can no longer stick to a rigid launch plan, but must be able to evolve the planning as new information becomes available. Allume can help organize all those activities, shortening the development timeframe and reducing costs.” Even for research-driven organizations that intend to out-license or sell their product, rather than commercialize themselves, Allume resources are valuable. “It used to be that Big Pharma would acquire licenses on the basis of science only, but now they want to know how well commercial factors have been included in product planning.”

Quintiles has a large clinical trials service organization, and while output from trials it is managing can be ported easily into Allume, the platform is not limited only to Quintiles-managed trials. Ackermann says that Allume is not currently designed to perform analytics on the clinical or commercial data that arises during development, but to present reports based on those datasets as they become available. Another strength of the Quintiles organization, which operates in 60 countries, represented in Allume is the ability to tailor product launches to the countries in which those launches are planned to occur.