Servier is seeking a major R&D transformation and is tapping contract research organization IQVIA to help.
Setting out its so-called Servier Clinical Operations REinvent (SCORE) program, the French pharma is looking “optimize clinical trial applications, business processes, organization and governance.” To this end, it is asking IQVIA to “support Servier on process and organization streams and on change and program management.”
This comes as Servier has this year looked to beef up its pipeline, and in April it snapped up Danish cancer biotech Symphogen to bolster its immuno-oncology R&D, building on its recent pact with Cellectis and its cell therapies.
It’s made no secret of its desire to become a recognized player in oncology, something that will no doubt also be helped by its $2.4 billion buy of Shire’s cancer biz in 2018, itself coming after the Irish-based pharma was subsumed into Takeda.
“The SCORE program is an R&D initiative that drives digital and business transformation, accelerates clinical development, enhances drug candidate value and better addresses unmet medical needs while improving patient outcomes,” said Patricia Belissa-Mathiot, director of clinical development and R&D CMO at Servier.
“SCORE also increases collaboration, insights and patient centricity by its lean end-to-end processes, streamlined organization, use of data-driven insights, standardization and efficient technology.”
IQVIA, which came out of the merger of Quintiles and IMS, is in much demand, running trials for AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s late-stage COVID-19 vaccine. It has spent much of the year battling the effects of the pandemic on its business.
In its third-quarter financials, the CRO said it is still steering around COVID-19 roadblocks with its R&D business still posting a loss, but other segments are recovering as it upped its full-year guidance.
In the new collab, financials of which were not shared, IQVIA will be tapped over the next two years to help Servier SCORE.
“We are delighted to have been selected by Servier to deliver on their R&D agenda. IQVIA’s unique combination of capabilities and innovative approach will support Servier’s ambitions through the SCORE project,” added Alistair Grenfell, president of Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia for IQVIA.