CUSTOMER STORY

Executive Summary

From Fragmented Preclinical Sourcing to One Unified Operating Model

A top 20 global pharmaceutical company — Japanheadquartered, with operations in roughly 70 countries — built out a preclinical research footprint through aggressive M&A: nine acquisitions in six years across five therapeutic modalities. Preclinical R&D purchasing spanned 200+ critical suppliers across five financial systems and seven global locations from Tokyo to Boston, with no unified view of suppliers, spend, or onboarding status.

The organization selected Science Exchange as the single interface for preclinical R&D purchasing. Beyond the efficiency and cost outcomes above, Science Exchange collapsed 200+ suppliers across five financial systems down to 10 vendor-master records in the enterprise P2P/ERP — a structural simplification that reset what was operationally possible for the category.

>80% reduction

in order activation time (from 30 to 6 days)

>$1.2 million

in cost savings
across ~$50M in preclinical spend

126

unique suppliers
under one standard agreement

48%/60%

of new orders/ in scope spend
on platform

THE CHALLENGE

Nine Acquisitions, Five Financial Systems, Seven Sites

Disjointed systems, suppliers, and processes created friction that delayed research and limited visibility.

Data Fragmentation

Operating across five financial systems obscured supplier relationships and spending patterns across 200+ critical suppliers. No consolidated view of preclinical spend existed.

Global Complexity

Coordinating procurement across seven global locations — from Tokyo to Boston-area biotechs — with diverse cultural dynamics created significant challenges for a single procurement organization.

Administrative Burden

Lengthy supplier onboarding processes delayed scientific innovation and frustrated R&D leadership. Researchers spent material time on procurement admin rather than science.

Speed vs. Compliance

Ensuring quality standards and regulatory compliance across a global supplier base supporting new therapeutic modality R&D was highly complex and difficult to track.

THE SOLUTION

One Platform for Global Preclinical R&D Sourcing

Science Exchange was deployed globally as the single interface for preclinical R&D purchasing — replacing the fragmented supplier-by-supplier, system-by-system experience with one standardized workflow covering supplier discovery, contracting, compliance, project initiation, and payment.

One global interface for preclinical purchasing

A single global entry point for researchers and procurement users across all seven sites — one consistent experience regardless of location or therapeutic modality.

One standard agreement, pre-qualified network

A single, pre-negotiated legal framework covers every supplier engagement — eliminating per-supplier contracting and giving scientists instant access to qualified suppliers.

Consolidated supplier master data

Science Exchange acts as the intermediary supplier of record. 200+ suppliers across 5 financial systems collapsed to 10 vendor-master records in the enterprise P2P/ERP.

Automated quality & compliance monitoring

Built-in controls for quality standards and regulatory compliance across the in-scope supplier base — reducing manual oversight and strengthening the audit trail.

THE SOLUTION

Before and After: A Structural Shift

Science Exchange enabled a shift from fragmented, tactical purchasing to a unified, strategic procurement model — delivering global visibility, faster access to innovation, and scalable operations to support growth and M&A.

Category-level performance

• Speed: A greater-than-80% reduction in order activation time, from ~30 days to 6 days. Scientific programs now begin in days rather than weeks.

• Savings: More than $1.2M in cost savings realized across approximately $50M in addressable preclinical spend.

• Access: 126 unique suppliers actively engaged under a single standard agreement — a meaningful increase in specialized supplier access without a corresponding increase in overhead per engagement.

• Scale: 48% of new preclinical orders and 60% of in-scope spend placed through Science Exchange, with adoption continuing to expand.

Science Exchange gave us a single global interface and reset how the team spends its time. We went from managing 200+ suppliers across five financial systems to managing strategic relationships through one platform, with ten vendor records in our P2P. That is not a tooling change — it is an operating model change.

Head of Procurement,

R&D, Manufacturing and Supply Chain

CONCLUSION

A Preclinical Procurement Operating Model Built for a Global Pipeline

For this global top 20 pharmaceutical company, the result of the Science Exchange deployment is not a procurement efficiency number — it is a new operating model for how preclinical R&D purchasing is commissioned, governed, and measured across a globally distributed, M&A-grown research footprint.

Science Exchange reset the relationship between procurement and science: researchers focused on the science, procurement focused on strategic supplier relationships, and the administrative layer between them collapsed from five financial systems and 200+ suppliers into one platform and ten vendor-master records. The 80%+ reduction in order activation time, the $1.2M+ in realized savings, and the 126 specialized suppliers now accessible under one standard agreement are the measurable outputs of that structural shift.

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