A decision support application was developed for management and allocation of resources
at the Safety Assessment division of a global Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical major.
The application provides for quick analysis of the resources available, and their
allocation to the development programs concerning the pre-clinical candidates in
the pipeline. Since limited resources are available (e.g. animals needed for testing,
lab personnel, biochemists etc.) there needs to be an optimal utilization of these
resources such that the drug candidates with the highest potential for success are
prefrentially supported. A complicating factor is that the probability of success
(POS) of each program is a dynamically changing factor that depends on a number
of internal and external variables.The Planning Tool application developed by Applied
Optimization demonstrated that asset utilization can be predicted and optimized
to maximize the number of pre-clinical candiates that can go through the development
pipeline.The application also enables the company to study impacts of outsourcing.
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business description & background
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Safety Assessment studies are on the critical path for the drug approval process
undergone by pharmaceutical companies. At any given time there are a large number
of drugs or New Drug Applications (NDAs) in the pipeline, needing to be resourced.
Generally, better management of drug portfolios and resources leads to higher profitability
and more successful drug launches. The ability of a company to support development/testing
programs is dependent on its ability to minimize the high cost (in terms of resources,
money and time) of taking a drug to market. Applied Optimization was approached
by the Safety Assessment group of a pharma major with the objective of developing
an application for efficient allocation of resources to the various development/testing
programs and pre-clinical candidates under study. The following business aspects
were relevant to this project:
- Resources (manpower, laboratories and animals) are dispersed
over several locations
- A large number of programs are being supported by the Safety
Assessment group.
- Frequently changing scenarios as programs are added, dropped
or modified
- Dynamically varying Probability of Success (POS) for the programs
being supported.
- Outsourcing of studies to be considered- depending on availability
and cost of resources
- Desire rapid scenario analysis and tweaks of critical analysis
parameters
- Leverage the company's existing Oracle Database and OPX2 system
(a proprietary third party resource/project management database application).
There existed no comprehensive and automated way to predict the load on various
organizational resources, given a pipeline under development and a scenario of future
pre-clinical candidates' deployment. There existed no automated way of allocating
Safety Assessment resources to different programs based on probability of success
or financial impact. As a result, there was no way to assess the impact of allocation
decisions on the future success of these programs.
Applied Optimization was charged with the task of delivering a Planning Tool that:
- Generates feasible allocations of resources to the various programs
being supported
- Provides robust data interchange capabilities so as to allow
frequent data updates that reflect the changing reality
- Provides a flexible and user-friendly interface
- Provides fast 'What if' scenario analysis for a customer-specified
specific set of scenarios
- Provides online help and detailed technical documentation
The AIMMS platform that was used for developing the application boasts of class-leading
GUI capabilities and an ability to interface with a variety industrial databases.
The resulting application was test-driven using real data, and was successful in
generating allocation plans under a variety of conditions. The user interface was
designed to offer ease of use, and allow rapid tweaks to critical decision-making
parameters that facilitate scenario analyses. The application also offers a convenient
method for inputting and importing/exporting data. Detailed User and Technical manuals
were provided in addition to an online help functionality.
The application also gives visibility to the end-users about data gaps and data
inconsistencies and alerts them to data-maintenance activities.
As a result of installing the application, the planning capability of the Safety
Assessment team was significantly improved over the existing, manual planning process.
Resourcing of programs can now be made more effectively, aimed at maximizing the
success of the drug pipeline within the company. Maintenance of the data was made
simpler through the data interchange that could be accomplished from within the
application. The Safety Assessment Planning Tool was delivered with built-in upgradability
so that future modifications and linkages e.g. with a Portfolio Management/Optimization
tool can be easily established.
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how applied optimization added value
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The Safety Assessment team had a highly positive response to the application delivered
by Applied Optimization. A second phase of this project, wherein additional capabilities
will be added, is already in the works. Some specific features of particular value
were:
- Powerful GUI capabilities and ability to represent Resource Allocations
as dynamic charts with sliding timescales
- Succession of pull-down menus to allow easy selection of specific
resources, sites and programs being resourced- can slice/dice the data in a multitude
of ways
- Powerful data interchange capabilities, allowing easy access
to updated information from external databases
- Flexible application with the ability to easily change key inputs
and objectives
- Built-in upgradability to add more complex functionalities and
link up with applications developed by other groups.
- Applied Optimization's high level of experience in managing large
projects enabled a disperse team to remain focused and complete the project on time
and on budget.
Our client is a leading pharmaceutical company with multiple research, development
and testing locations. At any given time, a multitude of Drug Development Programs
need to be resourced from internal and external resources.
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case studies, articles, and demos
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