Seagen's integrated supply chain: From clinical trials to commercialization

Want to know what it takes to manage an integrated supply chain that delivers a continuous supply of life-saving medicine around the world? In this episode of Big Ideas in Supply Chain, Elisabeth Kaszas, VP of Global Supply Operations at Seagen, joins Allen Jacques, Industry Thought Leader at Kinaxis, to discuss the importance of demand planning processes and tackling rapid growth during product launches. Gain insights on Seagen's transformation journey and learn why seamless data exchanges within the biopharma industry can reduce lead times to improve patient access to innovative therapies. 

• Seagen develops life-saving medicines using ADC (Antibody Drug Conjugate) technology, which targets and destroys select cancer cells. Elisabeth joined their team three years ago while they were in the midst of launching three major products. These launches created exponential growth within the company, creating new opportunities to scale up operations and understand the demand signals needed for production plans, supply plans, and distribution capabilities. [5:18]
• Elisabeth worked vigilantly to prepare Seagen as they faced incremental growth. To do this, she knew they needed to remain agile and create more robust roles, responsibilities, and processes to ensure they would be able to sustain the volume and complexity of their products. Additionally, she had an integrated business planning process put in place to gain better end-to-end visibility. [7:51]
• One of the biggest challenges faced at Seagen is long lead times, a topic that many supply chain practitioners are familiar with. Elisabeth states that making life-saving therapies takes time – and safety stock buffers – to try to stay ahead. She also believes there have been a lot of improvements over the past 20 years thanks to the help of advanced analytics and digital tools that have helped her gain improved insights into their end-to-end times to see where inventory is taking the longest. [18:12]

To hear more from Elisabeth and Allen about the vital role of advanced planning and the complexities of supply chain planning in biopharma, watch our latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast.

Learn more about Elisabeth Kaszas and the work she’s doing at Seagen by following her on LinkedIn. 

Kinaxis is a global leader in modern supply chain management. Our software is trusted by global brands in every industry to provide the agility and predictability needed to navigate today’s volatility and disruption. For more news and information, please visit kinaxis.com or follow us on LinkedIn.