CONFERENCE DAY TWO

THURSDAY, JUNE 26

8:00 am Registration & Coffee

8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

Pinpointing Areas of Improvement & Key Opportunities for Savings

9:00 am Doubling Down on Strategic Spend Management to Secure Procurement Wins

  • Ayo Balogun Sr. Director, Head of Procurement and Strategic Sourcing, Eikon Therapeutics

Synopsis

• Prioritizing Key internal and external stakeholders to clarify objectives, understand motivations, drive change, and optimize outcomes.

• Exploring innovative approaches and implementing business processes to maximize speed and spending productivity through transparency, targeted supplier relationships, and negotiations

• Identifying and evaluating systems and tools to enhance spend management capabilities such as orchestration, automation, and visualization

9:30 am Rewriting the VMI Playbook: How Neutral Managed Inventory Models Are Transforming Lab Operations and Procurement.

  • Hillary Ferrer Head Lab Planning and Logistics, Takeda Pharmaceutical
  • Nick Rioux Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder, Labviva LLC
  • Elden Lainez Founder & President, Boston Lab Services

Synopsis

  • Learn how Takeda modernized its lab supply strategy with a vendor-agnostic, data-driven approach to inventory management
  • Hear first-hand how a neutral model improved visibility, reduced waste, and gave Takeda more control over their supply needs
  • See how Boston Lab Services and Labviva partnered to deliver automation, flexibility, and operational excellence
  • Walk away with actionable insights for transforming procurement from a cost center into a strategic R&D enabler

 

10:00 am Harnessing Spend Analytics to Inform Procurement Decisions

  • Brenda Wood Global B2B Channel Manager, Cell Signaling Technology

Synopsis

  • Leveraging spend analytics to gain a comprehensive view of spending across R&D categories to enable data-driven decision-making on investments
  • Utilizing analytics to identify cost-saving potentials by detecting inefficiencies and supplier overlaps across procurement categories
  • Visualizing spend patterns to prioritize high-impact areas, improve supplier negotiations, and align procurement strategy with business objectives

10:30 am Session reserved for Infinity Loop

11:00 am Coffee Break

Strategizing Procurement

Chair: James Altwies, Associate Director, Strategic Sourcing – Supply Chain, Exact Sciences

Solidifying Your Team Structure to Combat External Changes

11:30 am Panel Discussion: Building Out Your Procurement Teams to Meet Company Milestones

  • Greg Mason Senior Director - Global Category Procurement & Lab Operations, Charles River Laboratories
  • Joe Carvalho Head Global R&D Scientific Services Procurement, Novartis
  • James altwies Principal, Supply Chain Risk Advisor, Exact Sciences
  • Greg Fly VP, Procurement, Ipsen Pharma
  • Andy Warlow Senior Director - Strategic Sourcing Research Development, Data, Technology & Engineering, Vertex

Synopsis

• Is it best practice to embed outsourcing into the operations vs procurement team?

• How can we best integrate both R&D operations and procurement to better align on shared research goals to drive business revenue?

• How can we ensure procurement teams are speaking the same language as the business?

12:00 pm Maximizing Resources as a Small Sized Biotech to Attract Fruitful Partnerships & Support Business Growth

  • Liana Juarez Senior Manager - Laboratory Operations, Environment, Health & Safety , Procurement, Be Biopharma

Synopsis

• Collaborating with clinical operations to best outline the roadmap to expansion and obtain vendor buy-in

• Optimizing your small internal team whilst adopting an FSO model to protect the value of services and research

• Kick-starting your shift towards automated platforms such as Coupa to avoid scale issues in the long-term

Implementing Procurement

Chair: Terrel Carothers, Executive Director, Strategic Procurement & Site Services,Eisai US

Assessing Future R&D Technology & Maximizing Purchasing Value

11:30 am Simplifying the Process of Onboarding Novel R&D Technologies to Free Up Scientists’ Time

  • Morgan Petty Innovation Biotechnology Procurement Lead, Bayer

Synopsis

• Planning future technology implementation in light of current budget challenges to prepare for future onboarding

• Integrating multi-functional sourcing for innovative diversity and pricing flexibility

• Prioritizing investments and using automation to your benefit to shift away from proof of concept to implementation, boosting R&D efficiency

12:00 pm Roundtable Discussion: Obtaining Maximum Value to Balance Quality, Cost, & Reliability

  • Terrell Carothers Executive Director, Strategic Procurement & Site Services, Eisai Co., Ltd.

Synopsis

• What best practices can you share surrounding flexible contracting to enable speed of services?

• Discuss some governance techniques and tools to make critical vendor assessments.

• How do you currently reprioritize between cost, quality, and reliability, and communicate this internally?

12:30 pm Networking Lunch

Conducting Data-Driven Decision Making to Establish Change Management

1:30 pm Tracking Performance Metrics to Compare Against KPIs & Adapt to Required Internal Changes

  • Brendan Decelles Head of Clinical Outsourcing and Contracting, Neurocrine Biosciences

Synopsis

• Turning inwards towards internal procurement data to identify gaps in performance and improve leadership

• Comparing current sourcing strategy with overall procurement objectives to identify gaps for improvement

• Setting up your sourcing teams for success in aligning with performance goals and establishing a strong internal culture

2:00 pm Outlining the Roadmap for Outsourcing Strategies & Fitting this Into the Broader Landscape to Set Up for Success with All Stakeholders

Synopsis

• Identifying the health of the current landscape and assessing strategic priorities to meet procurement requirements

• Visualizing the opportunities for potential suppliers and price range to facilitate decision-making with minimal delay

• Collaborating with the supplier network to understand current state of play and demand to meet expectations

Implementing Robust Tactics to Manage Inventory & Vendors

1:30 pm Devising a Robust Category Strategy Design to Consolidate on Vendors & Reduce Spend Accordingly

  • Andy Warlow Senior Director - Strategic Sourcing Research Development, Data, Technology & Engineering, Vertex
  • Dennis Garland Associate Director, Strategic Sourcing, Vertex

Synopsis

• Uncovering methods of vendor tracking and scoring to aid prioritization within the business and avoid failed spending

• Working with R&D to understand preferred suppliers and build out your supplier network as a roadmap to success

• Comparing prior vs current contracts to exercise new saving opportunities and flexible partnerships to adapt to external changes

2:00 pm Case Study: Exploring Takeda’s New Inventory Management Systems for Consumables to Increase Scientists’ Bench Time

  • Michael Serghiou Senior Director & Head of Global Discovery, Research & Procurement, Takeda

Synopsis

• Utilizing LabViva’s inventory management software to visualize inventory across sites to maximize current resources

• Outlining the benefits of pairing with agnostic models for software and supplies to procure the best value products

• Gaining control over your inventory by leveraging software to aid decision-making and minimize spend

Navigating External Relationships & Cost Pressures to Adopt Wins for Your Procurement & R&D Teams

2:30 pm Afternoon Break & Coffee

3:00 pm Devising a Flexible Hybrid Strategy in the CRO Space to Streamline Clinical Research for Scientists with Minimal Downtime

  • Leslie Horton Senior Manager - Global Research & Development Sourcing, BeOne Medicines USA, Inc.

Synopsis

• Pin-pointing risks of FSP models to manage CRO misalignment and aid decision making for future models

• Analyzing examples of hybrid CRO models to enable both targeted outsourcing and full-service support for R&D operations

• Delivering clinical trial results from a hybrid partnership model to assess best areas of opportunity in light of restricted budgets

3:30 pm Panel Discussion: Developing Effective Inflation Management Strategies to Protect Budgets: Bridging Leadership & Action

  • Morgan Petty Innovation Biotechnology Procurement Lead, Bayer
  • Akbar Alinani Senior Director - Research, Development, Sourcing & Category Management, Regeneron
  • Derek Pu Director - Research & development Procurement, Servier Pharmaceuticals
  • Paul Orlinsky Senior Sourcing Manager, Clinical Services, Biogen
  • Stephane Legault Consultant, Sanofi

Synopsis

  • Crafting an actionable inflation management strategy from proof of concept to lay out the roadmap for cost reduction
  • Implementing detailed cost models to assess inflation impacts and identify opportunities for cost control
  • Communicating with stakeholders internally and externally for holistic engagement

4:15 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks & End of Conference