Meeting the needs of global clinical trials
Quest Diagnostics is a leading clinical diagnostic testing company with over 42,000 employees and approximately $6bn in yearly revenues. The clinical trials business within Quest Diagnostics consists of over 500 dedicated employees providing central laboratory testing to support global Phase II–IV clinical trials.
Through its support of clinical research programmes, it contributes to the launch of new medicines that improve the lives of people around the world.
Quest Diagnostics operates two central laboratory facilities, one in the USA near Los Angeles and one in the UK near London, a project management facility in Wavre, Belgium, and a logistics facility in Nice, France.
The leadership team for Quest Diagnostics Clinical Trials is based in its proprietary locations and coordinated through its US corporate headquarters in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. In addition to proprietary offices, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Trials manages affiliate relationships with laboratories in South Africa, Australia, Singapore and China.
New management structure
To better respond to international market dynamics, further strengthen its customer focus and better position itself to deliver operational service excellence around the world, Gerard C. Ranasinghe, vice president of Clinical Trials and International Operations, has realigned the clinical trials organisation under two distinct lines of management:
- Global customer sales and services
- Global laboratory operations and services
Ranasinghe explains: ‘The clinical trials marketplace has experienced some noticeable changes over the last few years, with trials becoming more global and complex, more studies moving outside the USA and increased customer requirements for value-added services from their central laboratory service providers.’
Improving customer service
What sets Quest Diagnostics apart is its ability to combine the capabilities of a world-renowned clinical diagnostic organisation with an extensive staff of experienced people.
Global customer sales and services is focused on consistently driving excellent customer service behaviour across global clinical trials. Teams responsible for customer relationships will be aligned under Mark Engelhart, vice president of global sales, marketing and project management.
Global Laboratory Operations and Services is responsible for coordinating central laboratory operations in the USA and the UK. A director of global laboratory operations and services will head the central laboratory capabilities with support from two newly created roles: global logistics and materials manager and global specimen management and storage (SMAS) manager. These roles will expand Quest Diagnostics’ global footprint enabling it to transport and store patient specimens more efficiently in all regions of the world.
Additionally, two new staff functions – business excellence and strategic initiatives – will support the global management lines and provide additional focus on customer service and operational excellence.
The business excellence function will build greater value through Six Sigma quality-driven process improvements. Michael Harvey, director of medical, regulatory and business excellence, says: ‘We are a global central laboratory with Six Sigma Black Belts and Green Belts driving quality and performance improvements.’
Ready for the future
Frank Morrow, vice president of strategic initiatives and global systems integration, will lead the development of strategies that provide a framework for expanding Quest Diagnostics’ services to meet the future needs of global clinical trials.
Ranasinghe adds: ‘During the past few years, wpharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have dramatically increased the number of multinational clinical trial programmes. Regulatory and technological hurdles are being overcome in several very important emerging markets and large untapped patient populations are becoming available for recruitment into clinical trials. Quest Diagnostics is poised to meet the logistical, operational and regulatory needs of clinical research worldwide.’
Fore more information, visit www.questdiagnostics.com
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