BCD Travel launches global Life Sciences Center of Excellence

UTRECHT, The Netherlands, Feb. 3, 2021 – BCD Travel today announced the establishment of a Life Sciences Center of Excellence. With longstanding expertise in the sector, bolstered by the success of BCD Meetings & Events’ existing Life Sciences Center of Excellence, BCD harnesses best practices across travel, meetings and consultancy to solve this industry’s unique and complex requirements. The launch further strengthens BCD’s ability to provide cohesive, integrated, and compelling offerings specific to the life sciences sector.

With more than 20 years of experience and deep institutional knowledge across more than 100 customers and 40+ therapeutic areas, BCD services 90% of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and is the worldwide travel and meetings leader for the life sciences industry.

“We are excited to launch a Life Sciences Center of Excellence, one that builds upon BCD Meetings & Events’ focus and together allows us to channel our expertise into global, compliant and comprehensive solutions that solve for our customers’ unique and complex program needs,” says Kessie Bratko, Senior Vice President, Global Client Team and Life Sciences Center of Excellence Senior Executive.

While traditional corporate travel has slowed drastically during the pandemic, the life sciences industry has faced unique challenges, including the need to expand traditional support to include frontline workers. BCD Travel has defied the pandemic’s constraints, channeling their skills and expertise to enhance programs that ensure compliance and improve the traveler experience.

Paige Furr, Global Business Service, Enterprise Travel and Meetings at Pfizer: “BCD demonstrates strategic leadership, innovation, and collaboration that reaches far beyond the confines of traditional travel and meetings management. We applaud BCD for evolving their Life Sciences Center of Excellence during a pandemic, illustrating that their focus on the voice of the customer has not wavered in uncertain times. The heightened focus on patient-centricity shows leadership and is squarely in line with what’s most important to us.”

The new Life Sciences Center of Excellence turns expertise into insights through strategic consultation and best practices. In providing central governance and coordination across its broad spectrum of life sciences and health care customers, BCD Travel will:

• Maximize the health care provider, patient and traveler experience while balancing complex compliance and regulatory requirements
• Identify novel value drivers specific to life sciences organizations
• Leverage expertise, capabilities, and technology to deliver best-in-class programs
• Provide holistic solutions across travel, meetings, HCP/patient engagements and consultancy
• Deliver patient-centered programs that increase transparency, maintain sensitive care requirements and limit study team burden

Clinical trials, always a crucial factor in the life sciences ecosystem, have achieved new prominence in the COVID era. Life sciences companies have increasingly looked to BCD for support in addressing the sensitive needs of clinical trial patients. BCD will soon announce an enhanced approach to deliver an improved patient travel experience with the benefits of a corporate travel program.