Over 15% savings on a clinical services deal and a commercial negotiation muscle built to last

Vision

A clinical-stage BioPharma advancing innovative therapies wanted to complement its strong scientific expertise with robust commercial negotiation capabilities. It needed to secure the right CRO partner for a critical multi-year clinical study — while building a repeatable, structured approach to sourcing, negotiation, and supplier management for the future.

Challenge

• The incumbent vendor's strong position and deep-rooted relationships limited competitive tension and negotiation leverage.
• The existing proposal was high-cost and contractually weak: open-ended change orders, no penalties, and inflation and FX risk.
• Clinical Operations had strong scientific capability but no formal procurement role or negotiation process.
   

Solution

Clinical Operations partnered with Genioo on a two-pronged initiative using our Success Planning and Top Team Alignment frameworks:

1.   Live sourcing execution: 

• Assessed 20+ credible alternatives (mix of smaller specialists and global multi-nationals) to the incumbent.
• Designed a structured RFI/RFP process and evaluation framework to narrow list from 20 to 6 invited to pitch and 3 shortlisted for negotiation.
• Built detailed benchmarking and cost models to challenge supplier assumptions and identify commercial improvement opportunities.
• Guided client to lead commercial negotiations on timelines, change-order governance, inflation/FX protection, and incentives, holding competitive tension open until every term was agreed, securing conditions "as promised in RFP." 

2.   Capability building of supplier/customer facing teams:

• Designed and delivered a four-module training program — Commercial Mindset, Power Through Data, Winning Strategy, Solid Execution.
• Engaged each participant in 4h of interactive role play across functions from CEO to Analyst, should-cost analysis, and case-based application, using the live CRO sourcing project as a practical learning environment.
• Codified frameworks and toolkits for full handover, and every participant left with a negotiation strategy and action plan of their own.

Impact

• Over 15% commercial improvement versus the incumbent's original proposal, with quality and scope fully protected.
• Qualified 6 CRO alternatives created real competitive tension, securing stronger terms on change orders, penalties, and FX protection 
• 27+ frameworks taught, 14 hours of classroom training, 4 hours of role play per participant, 20+actionable supplier negotiation plans drafted
• Built lasting confidence and data-driven capability in sourcing and negotiation — a scalable, repeatable approach to clinical outsourcing.