LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM THE CMO LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2016
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forward to fully assimilating the CMOs
directly into Reliability Rooms for a
tighter-managed integration of the entire
supply chain.
"We're working with our partners now,
and there are options on the table," says
Colarusso. A lot will be determined by
the sophistication that's necessary or
required for each vendor. "Different
vendors have different capabilities,"
he explains. "Now our sites have the pro-
cess laid out and the data synergized so it
can be rolled up. We would envision ulti-
mately doing that for our partner CMOs."
Colarusso envisions this step starting
out much like the original Reliability
Rooms, as "initially something simple
and manual." Janssen will study how and
what adds the most value and tweak the
process until it too leads to useful day-to-
day data and metrics that efficiently roll
up to senior management. "To me, that's
what I'd call the real automation: The
efficiency of the process to get started."
And finally, while on the subject of
CMOs and outsourcing in general, I ask
Colarusso how important this "external
factor" is for Janssen. Is outsourcing
growing as we've heard from other
pharma companies? Is there a model or
strategy for outsourcing — for example,
diversify the chain or concentrate on
fewer and bigger partnerships?
"We fall more in line with the strategic
partnership model," replies Colarusso.
"We try to focus on bringing that total
number of service providers down, but
of course we're never fully successful.
One reason is because there's a lot of
licensing going on all the time, and
those licenses typically come with CROs,
CDMOs, and CMOs attached." Colarusso
says another factor is the consistent need
for new partners with new and advanced
technologies and capabilities based on
the new drug programs at Janssen.
"Things change depending on your
activity," Colarusso concludes. "Overall,
our strategy is centered around building
the supply chain from whatever is
best for that business. That's the mis-
sion. Whether that involves internal or
external resources, it has to do with
specific product, the technology utilized
by the product, what we consider core
technologies we think we're better at,
or what technologies might be core to
key partners."
What is certain is that whoever gets
to work with Janssen — be it on the inside
or externally — should be fully prepared
for the 21 key measurements, serious
cross-functional (and intercompany)
review, and proactive actions … and
to spend a fair amount of time in the
Reliability Room. L