Equipment supply for rare disease studies

Why it matters

Why do rare disease trials need different equipment logistics from larger studies?
With only a handful of eligible patients worldwide for many rare conditions, rare disease trials often recruit across a small number of widely dispersed sites and countries rather than concentrating in a few large ones. That spreads out equipment demand in a way that favours flexible, rapid provisioning over the large standardised fleets a bigger trial might use, and it puts more weight on import and customs expertise given how many borders a single trial can cross.

Gene and cell therapy dominate the modern rare disease pipeline
A large share of new rare disease treatments are gene or cell therapies, which need the same cryogenic storage, continuous temperature monitoring, and chain-of-custody discipline used in oncology cell therapy trials. For many rare disease sponsors, cold chain reliability is now as central to trial success as patient recruitment itself.

Natural history studies and small-n designs change what equipment gets used for
Because patient numbers are so limited, rare disease research often relies on natural history studies and small crossover or n-of-1 designs rather than large randomised trials, which means the same piece of equipment may need to travel with, or be replicated for, a single patient rather than serving an entire site.

What we do

Our global distribution network puts calibrated equipment on site for rare disease studies anywhere in the world, whenever it's needed. Gene and cell therapy supply covers cold chain and cryogenic storage equipment. Rapid diagnosis covers POCT devices and connected devices. Day-to-day site operations covers centrifuges, refrigerators, freezers, thermometers, temperature dataloggers, and scales. Everything is available fully calibrated and ready to use. If you require equipment supply for a rare disease study, get in touch.