Open Innovation in the cell therapy supply chain

At TrakCel, we firmly believe that open innovation across all collaborators in the industry will be key to driving progress in the cell therapy supply chain. Open innovation – a more distributed, more participatory, more decentralized approach to innovation, based on the observed fact that useful knowledge and capability today is widely distributed, and no company, no matter how capable or how large, can innovate as effectively on its own.

What does that mean for our customers and partners?

Well, first off, let’s look at what Henry Chesbrough, the author credited with coining the term, defines open innovation as:

“…the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively.”

It’s about looking beyond the four walls of our company – to a wider ecosystem of supply chain partners, academics, suppliers of complementary products and services and other firms – to identify and capitalize on new opportunities for innovation in cell therapy.

For TrakCel that means real and valuable collaborations between our partner companies, individuals and public bodies to ensure we continue to innovate and deliver more effective solutions to our clinical customers.

In a world of distributed knowledge, and particularly in emergent platforms such as Cell and Gene therapy, companies can’t rely exclusively on internal capabilities to effectively orchestrate the supply chain, meet manufacturing demands at scale and deliver end-to-end traceability and chain of custody throughout – instead our customers benefit immensely from our commitment to open innovation with best in class industry partners.

It’s often been asked – How do you know when to partner, and what to avoid? 

We look for ideas, partners and technologies that fit with our business model and, ultimately, allow us to deliver a better solution to our customers. Simple as that.

What are the benefits to TrakCel of open innovation ?

·         We can implement internal ideas that might otherwise remain unexplored

·         We can ensure seamless access to additional external capabilities

·         We can share efficiencies in resource allocation

If we get it right, and we’ve done well so far (according to our customers at least!), then the benefits are clear. Open innovation delivers a myriad of enhanced opportunities including:

·         Enhanced capability in the management of your valuable cell therapies

·         Reduced supply chain costs,

·         Accelerated time-to-market, and

·         Increased differentiation

All of this ultimately leads to a real competitive advantage – and that is particularly important in the current race to market with many of the next generation of CAR T cell therapies in particular.

So, the next time you read or hear about TrakCel’s latest partnership or industry alliance, take a moment to think about what that means for you and your company.  If we get it right, you’ll be better placed for success. That makes us all winners.