Identification of capacity planning as the critical capability for drug developer survival by Tufts last week represents a bar set high. Thanks to the complexity of current protocol designs, few automated tools based on an accurate understanding of resource costs are available.
Capacity planning is, of course, a function available within larger and broader software solutions, and has long been recognized as a component of the clinical trial process. But protocol complexity has been accompanied by a new cost discipline. And it has gone without the kind of attention leading to the automation mastery available for say, data capture or subject randomization.
Fortunately, a model exists, and it's been tweaked over several years of use for the complex process of determining treatment regimens for new cancer drugs. The Chemotherapy Planning Oncology Resource Tool was developed by the U.K. Pharmaceutical Oncology Initiative Partnership. C-PORT uses statistical modeling to predict how chemotherapy units will perform under different conditions. It even simulates such real-life events as equipment breakdowns and absenteeism, according to BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
- see the Tuft's release
- here's more info on C-PORT