Rapid Trial Activation in Oncology
Published Date: October 14, 2025
Rapid Trial Activation in Oncology
Implications + Opportunities for Investigational Drug Service Operations
Written by: Alex Vondracek, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP
The timeline for launching an oncology clinical trial is more than an administrative metric — it’s a measure of how quickly patients gain access to potentially lifesaving therapies. When start-up stretches out, it can delay care, slow enrollment, and put added pressure on already-busy teams trying to move research forward with precision and confidence.
This article explores how rapid trial activation is changing the start-up model from a step-by-step sequence into a process built on parallel readiness. Instead of waiting for each milestone to finish before the next begins, contracting, budgeting, regulatory review, and IRB activities move forward together. The piece also highlights a key operational shift: IDS pharmacy is no longer a downstream function as it’s increasingly involved from feasibility onward. With timelines compressed into weeks (and sometimes days), pharmacy readiness work happens earlier and faster, making coordination, resourcing, and well-defined workflows essential to opening trials on time.
What’s Inside:
- What “rapid trial activation” actually means—and how it changes the traditional start-up sequence
- Where time is typically lost during activation, and the practical steps that help teams regain momentum
- How some programs are cutting months off timelines (and what makes those gains sustainable)
- Why IDS pharmacy is now central to feasibility and early planning—not just the final check before go-live
- The operational realities of moving faster: compressed timelines, “at-risk” work, and the strategies that help teams stay ready without sacrificing safety
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