Why Sponsors Need Expertise in Biospecimen Lifecycle Management to Bring Their Breakthroughs to Life

Imagine you’re a brilliant interior designer with a vision for transforming a space into a masterpiece. You know exactly how you want the room to look, but bringing that vision to life requires more than just your expertise. You need skilled contractors, electricians, and plumbers to ensure your design is executed flawlessly. 

Similarly, sponsors running clinical trials have bold visions for breakthroughs that could save and improve countless lives, but they can’t do it alone. To bring these visions to life, they need support from outside experts who understand the complexities of clinical research. 

If you consider the critical factors that have the greatest influence on study outcomes,  biospecimen data and operations are often top-of-mind. Without a robust lab strategy; a reliable method to optimize and monitor site and lab vendor compliance with sample and data management procedures; and an effective sample tracking system, sponsors risk compromising their most valuable asset: their study data. This data is the cornerstone of demonstrating the safety and efficacy of new treatments. To protect it, sponsors need a way to capture and operationalize near real-time sample metadata, enabling informed decisions that keep the study on track and ensure the study’s integrity. 

For sponsors who may have fewer resources, leveraging the right expertise to support their biospecimen operations, data, and sample management can mean the difference between a successful trial and costly setbacks. In this blog, we’ll explore why expertise matters across the biospecimen lifecycle, what’s at stake if it’s lacking, and how investing in expertise can lead to positive outcomes for sponsors.

Why does expertise in biospecimen data and operations matter to sponsors?

Clinical trial sponsors face a growing number of challenges when managing the biospecimen lifecycle, especially as studies become more complex and sample-intensive. Expertise in biospecimen data and operations isn’t just a “nice-to-have” — it’s essential to enabling each trial to progress smoothly, delivering reliable results and ensuring all interdependencies are accounted for.

Biospecimen management may include tracking sample shipments, but it also encompasses everything from optimizing lab protocols and ensuring vendor alignment to developing workflows that streamline sample collection and metadata management. Each of these steps plays a critical role in ensuring that the trial is on track to meet its endpoints and timelines. Without the right expertise, biospecimen operations can become a hindrance to a study’s overall success, causing delays, discrepancies, and ultimately jeopardizing the integrity of the sample data.

Expertise in biospecimen data management is equally critical. The ability to capture and reconcile real-time sample metadata ensures that sponsors always have an up-to-date, accurate view of the trial’s progress. This data enables sponsors to make informed decisions quickly and resolve issues before they become major problems. In a fast-paced and competitive clinical research landscape, the ability to act on high-quality, real-time data can mean the difference between a successful trial and one that’s plagued by costly setbacks.

What’s at stake for sponsors without the right expertise to support their biospecimen data and operations?

For sponsors who don’t have access to the right expertise in biospecimen operations and data management, the risks are significant. Poor sample management can lead to protocol deviations, sample loss, and delays in delivering trial results. A single mishandled sample or discrepancy in sample metadata can compromise the integrity of the study data, making it difficult to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a new treatment.

But the consequences of not having the right expertise also extend far beyond data integrity. Poorly managed biospecimen operations can also burden patients, strain relationships with vendors, lead to compliance issues, and result in costly delays. These inefficiencies can add up to critical delays in study timelines and significantly increase costs.

Without a strong foundation in biospecimen operations, sponsors are also at risk of missing critical opportunities for optimization. Data collected during the trial could be underutilized, meaning that sponsors aren’t fully capitalizing on the valuable insights that could improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance study outcomes. The right expertise ensures that sponsors can avoid these pitfalls and navigate the complexities of their trial with confidence.

Unlock the full potential of your trials with Slope Professional Services

For sponsors looking to optimize their biospecimen operations and data management, Slope’s tech-enabled Professional Services offer a comprehensive solution. Our premium suite of services is designed to help sponsors harness the full potential of their biospecimen data, from study startup to closeout. With expertise across lab and biospecimen operations, end-to-end sample tracking, and data management, we provide the guidance and support needed to ensure your trial stays on track.

By partnering with Slope, sponsors gain access to a team of experts who understand the complexities of clinical research and can help you navigate the challenges of biospecimen lifecycle management. Whether you need help with protocol design, vendor selection, or real-time sample tracking, we’re here to help you bring your breakthroughs to life.

To learn more about how Slope’s Professional Services can elevate your clinical trial, check out our press release and download our info sheet to explore the full range of services we offer.