Laurie Halloran founded Halloran Consulting Group (Halloran) in 1998 after realizing that many of the biotech companies she worked with had similar issues with their clinical development process. Halloran Consulting Group provides their clients with clinical development experts with a wide network of specialized partners to get their products on the market.
About Laurie Halloran and Halloran Consulting Group
Based in Boston with an office in San Diego, Halloran is a life sciences consulting firm. It provides strategic regulatory, quality, clinical and organizational support to industry leaders and startup visionaries in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device sectors. The primary goal for most clients is to “develop better medicines, save time, money and get patients the treatments that they need,” says Halloran. “We learn about their goals and help companies achieve them.”
Halloran works closely with their clients to position them and their products for success. She uses a personalized and integrated approach which differentiates them from other commercialization firms. After more than 20 years in business, Halloran reports the consulting group now has a “bigger pipeline than Pfizer” and has served more than 750 clients.
Perhaps Halloran’s proactive and practical approach has something to do with this success. Ramani Varanasi, CEO of X-Biotix Therapeutics, recently had a conversation with Halloran and here are three key clinical development process takeaways from the chat.
Adapting during the pandemic
With the pandemic impacting most everyday activities, many life science companies had to look for alternative methods for data collection. They needed to change how they interacted with patients. Halloran and her team held weekly town hall-style meetings to gain community input on ways to continue clinical trials.
The major outcome was the introduction of some familiar technology into the clinical research process. “This technology has been around,” says Halloran. The “new” tool is something most people have access to – a cell phone. “Your iPhone … FaceTime, that’s now integrated into the clinical trials process. It puts patients front and center, and that’s huge because they always should have been there.”
Working toward clinical diversity
The life sciences industry has long had issues with racial diversity in clinical trials. This has even been an issue in the COVID-19 vaccine trials. Halloran has adopted AI that identifies how words will be interpreted by different groups. Working toward clinical diversity “can be as small as looking at a word and as big as getting community involvement in standing behind the work that you’ve done,” says Halloran.
Success and growing as a team
Halloran attributes her success to “playing to her strengths”. “I’m a really good delegator,” she says. She believes in surrounding herself with people who bring their own specific expertise into each project. This strategy benefits her entire team.
Halloran also believes in sharing opportunities with her team. In December 2020, she converted 30 percent of the company’s shares into an Employee Stock Ownership Program. “I feel like that’s going to really make us all row the boat in the same direction,” says Halloran.
Watch the video interview to listen to Ramani Varanasi’s conversation with Laurie Halloran. Learn more about Halloran’s entrepreneurial story, the Halloran Consulting Group, the adoption of new technology post COVID-19 and the importance of diversity in clinical research.
Editorial Note: Ramani Varanasi is the Biopharma/Life Sciences expert for Lioness Magazine. She is a co-founder, president and CEO of X-Biotix Therapeutics, a company focused on the discovery and development of novel antibiotics to combat the ever-increasing global issue of multi-drug resistance caused by “Superbugs”. She is an accomplished business executive, with over 25 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience. Being attracted to mission-driven initiatives, Varanasi has operated with an entrepreneurial vision and passion for launching, building and being part of successful organizations by integrating research and business strategies focused on innovative medicines and solutions having a global impact.
This is part of a series of interviews from Varanasi, focusing on the VIPs in the Life Sciences and Biopharma world. Meet Dr. Liang Schweizer and Sue Nemetz. Learn more about X-Biotix Therapeutics, Varanasi’s company, from her interview with Bobbie Carlton, Lioness’ publisher and Editor-in-chief.
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