Data Aggregation Drives AI's Impact on Clinical Supply Chains

Christy Owings, vice president and general manager of the Americas business unit at Thermo Fisher Scientific, discusses with PharmTech how AI is reshaping clinical supply chain operations across the company's 18 sites in North and South America. Owings frames AI not as a replacement for human expertise but as a complement to it, particularly in regions where local relationships remain essential.

"I still see personal relationships, as I was speaking to, especially in when you're trying to access regions like Latin America or Southeast Asia or the Middle East, for example," Owings says, adding that having in-country contacts to call on for critical information continues to matter even as automation expands.

At the same time, Owings points to concrete opportunities for AI to streamline the clinical site experience, from automating shipment coordination to enabling a chatbot-style system that lets sites report scheduling readiness on their own timeline rather than requiring direct contact with a Thermo Fisher associate. She also describes how AI can help the company synthesize the large volumes of data generated across its clinical supplies, CRO, and drug product and substance divisions, allowing it to optimize supply chains for sensitive products and account for factors like seasonal or climate-related shipping risk.

Owings highlights AI's growing role in spotting emerging industry trends, citing the shift in China's biotech sector toward pursuing first ex-China marketing approvals in Latin America rather than the US or EU as it has historically done.