Blog | February 24, 2021

Raw Materials Survey Reveals C&G Dual-Source Supply Chain Remains A Myth

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By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA

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Phacilitate teamed up with CellGenix on a survey to document the industry’s primary concerns with raw material supply. (To see the infographic and a more thorough write-up on what it all means, check it out here.) These responses (from 30-plus respondents) are a decent benchmark of where we currently are as an industry on several overarching topics, namely:

  • Supply Chain Management: Despite all the talk about making sure you have dual- sourcing strategies for critical raw materials established, 50 percent of respondents are still relying on a single supplier.
  • Raw Materials Supply: No surprise, quality of raw materials was a big concern, with lot-to-lot variability and lack of GMP-grade materials being the two top issues. The biggest raw material needs from the industry include closed system connectivity and global harmonization, especially for the industry to successfully move towards automation. Speaking of which….
  • Automation: Most of the surveyed companies (47 percent) are eyeing fully automating their processes within the next five years. 32 percent have portions of their process automated currently.

Many of you are likely to have an even more intimate knowledge of the benefits of dual-source supply arrangements than I do. (As a reminder, my raw materials are paper and cat tchotchkes.) But the biosimilar nerd in me is going to bring it back to competition because we cannot overlook the big picture here: raw material costs account for a big portion of development costs and overall cost of goods — especially at commercial scale.

As David Karakas, Head of Global Procurement and Sourcing (GPS), bluebird bio summed up nicely with Phacilitate:

 “The second [most important reason to avoid reliance on a single supplier] is price gouging – this isn’t the case with all suppliers but unfortunately, we see it, and relying on a single source can have an impact on budget vs. a more competitive situation where we can seek best price from more than one supplier.”