N-SIDE Introduces Lighthouse: A Game-Changer for Clinical Supply Chains

Lighthouse will double the amount of active clinical trials managed by N-SIDE to 1,400 within 3 years

Louvain-la-Neuve, September 19, 2023 – N-SIDE, a Belgian provider of innovative software and services empowering life sciences and energy sectors for better decision-making and resource management, announces the launch of Lighthouse, a new solution for the pharmaceutical sector. Lighthouse extends N-SIDE’s capabilities of clinical supply forecasting & planning to all types of trials and organizations. The software uses data and advanced modeling techniques to enable life science companies to accurately monitor and manage all supply risks for their clinical trials. This new solution puts reliable and intuitive planning capabilities in the hands of clinical supply managers.

Clinical trials involve many uncertainties, such as recruitment, dosage response and manufacturing yields. Risk management is essential to reduce the stress and workload of clinical trial teams and to avoid delays in the commercialization of new treatments. To demonstrate the efficacy of novel drugs, clinical trials also require a substantial amount of material. For several reasons, including unpredictability and short expiration dates of drugs, an average of 70% of this material goes to waste. As a result, demand in clinical trial supply is highly uncertain while service levels must be 100% to ensure that pharma companies can deliver the medication to every patient they have committed to.

For two decades, Belgian organization N-SIDE has been dedicated to enhancing the efficiency of clinical trials. As market leader, serving more than 50% of the world’s largest pharma companies, N-SIDE’s data analytics and AI-powered planning & optimization technology is known for reducing drug waste levels in large trials from 70% to 25% on average. However, while these vast and highly complex trials are significant, they represent only a fraction of all trials conducted by pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, N-SIDE is now expanding its portfolio with Lighthouse, a tool designed to support all clinical trials and further reduce overall drug waste.

Reliable and fast time to market with less drug waste  

Today, improving efficiency in clinical trial supply is a key focus for most pharmaceutical companies. Recently, the industry has faced numerous challenges, including the impact of events like the war in Ukraine, shortage of raw materials, and the mounting pressure to lower CO2 emissions. A crucial step towards enhancing efficiency involves gaining  complete oversight and understanding of clinical supply chain performance. Lighthouse expands this visibility to the pharmaceutical companies’ entire portfolio of clinical trials. N-SIDE is convinced that the new solution can transform the way the industry works.

Beyond waste reduction, this clinical supply planning software will also help accelerate the time to market for new medications. By removing bottlenecks in the supply chain, pharma companies can effectively reallocate resources and drugs that might otherwise go to waste. This software will help free up budgets and resources, allowing for investments in new trials that have the potential to improve patient care and save even more lives.

"Two years ago, N-SIDE made a significant  investment of €10 million as part of our commitment to support our international expansion and develop innovative technologies. Our new Lighthouse solution is the result of this investment. As the number of clinical trials increases, so does the risk of encountering bottlenecks. For the first time, companies, whatever their size and maturity, can have complete control over their clinical supply chain, empowering them to make better decisions, secure the clinical trial flow, reduce waste and improve the allocation of resources with a user-friendly tool that eases the work of the clinical supply teams. It prepares pharma companies for the future and provides them with valuable insights about the sustainability of their operations". Philippe Chevalier, CEO at N-SIDE

Currently, over 700 active clinical trials are managed with N-SIDE solutions. Thanks to Lighthouse, we expect to double that number within 3 years.

About N-SIDE

N-SIDE is an innovative software and service provider that enables organizations in the life sciences and energy industries to make better decisions and optimize the use of critical resources. They do this by combining deep industrial expertise with applied mathematics and artificial intelligence. Their easy-to-use and advanced software turns uncertainties and complexities into opportunities. For the pharmaceutical industry, this leads to supply chain optimization and efficient clinical trials. In the energy sector, it accelerates the transition to renewable energy sources and electrification (expansion of electricity generation and distribution). By doing so, they support customers in making better and faster decisions. A passionate team of innovative engineers, computer scientists and business experts from more than 30 countries supports renowned companies such as AstraZeneca, Roche, UCB, Sanofi, Elia Group, IEX, Statnett, and EpexSpot.