McKesson Corp., the Irving-based pharma distribution giant, has announced a new collaboration with TrakCel, a software developer for cell and gene therapy supply chain tracking and orchestration systems.

Together, the two companies intend to collaborate on support for cell and gene therapy late-stage developers.

The plan is to integrate both businesses’ supply chain tracking and patient access services to create a more efficient path for the development of next-generation commercial therapies. With an integrated system, McKesson’s Layne Martin said prescribers and manufacturers will be able to seamlessly work together to ensure the right patient always receives the correct therapeutic product.

“Precision medicine and the delivery of innovative cell and gene therapies require a personalized approach,” Martin, who’s the VP and general manager of McKesson Life Sciences’ Specialty Distribution Solutions, said. “TrakCel’s robust data tracking and verification capabilities, combined with McKesson’s industry leading 3PL, specialty pharmacy solutions and patient support capabilities, are critical to helping manufacturers safely and effectively commercialize innovative new therapies.”

McKesson is seventh on the country’s Fortune 500 list and is a leading provider of third-party logistics services (3PL), patient access support, and specialty pharmacy solutions. It relocated its headquarters to Irving from San Francisco earlier this year.

Cardiff, Wales-based TrakCel’s U.S. base is in New Jersey.

TrakCel and McKesson would create an end-to-end solution

Combining TrakCel’s data tracking and personalized medicine orchestration software system with McKesson’s high-touch patient platform and expertise will generate an end-to-end solution for the cell and gene therapy industry to better manage the entire therapeutic supply chain.

The process will begin with the development of an initial solution design. Then, the combined solutions are to be offered to individual clients that would specifically benefit from the combination.

The integrated platform will include automatic scheduling of product-specific workflows across supply chain partners and care team members, as well as chain-of-identity tracking to ensure correct drug product delivery. With an integrated platform, the scale-up of products will move more towards market delivery.

The combined product suites are going to be specifically designed to increase the number of developers approaching the commercialization of cell and gene therapies.

“TrakCel and McKesson have committed to working closely with a variety of current and future clients to specifically develop tailor-made solutions,” TrackCel CEO Ravi Nalliah said in a statement. “This integration of solutions and expertise with McKesson will enable us to continue to meet the needs of the cell and gene therapy sector and patients as more products move towards commercialization.”

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