SAP S/4HANA review

SAP S/4HANA is the deepest option for large pharma and biotech groups, because SAP surrounds the core ERP with applications built for life sciences. SAP Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals runs on S/4HANA and handles serial number management, including randomization, with preconfigured support for the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act and the EU Falsified Medicines Directive. SAP Batch Release Hub for Life Sciences automates batch release checks, and SAP says one customer consolidated data from 15 IT systems with it. SAP Intelligent Clinical Supply Management integrates with IRT and CTMS for trial supply, and SAP Advanced Therapy Orchestration covers personalized cell and gene therapies. The breadth comes at a cost: these are separate applications to license and implement, quality management partly comes from partners such as Tenthpin, and SAP does not publish prices. Smaller biotechs and device makers will usually get a faster, cheaper project elsewhere on this list.

Who it is for

Global pharma and biotech companies that need serialization, batch release and clinical supply at scale

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending).

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• SAP Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals on SAP S/4HANA for serial number management
• Preconfigured support for DSCSA and the EU Falsified Medicines Directive
• SAP Batch Release Hub for Life Sciences
• SAP Intelligent Clinical Supply Management with IRT and CTMS integration
• SAP Advanced Therapy Orchestration for cell and gene therapies

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Widest life sciences scope on this list, from clinical supply to commercial serialization
• Strength: Serialization supports DSCSA and EU FMD out of the box
• Strength: Partner apps such as Tenthpin T/QME add quality management
• Weakness: No published USD price
• Weakness: Many life sciences capabilities are separate SAP applications on top of S/4HANA
• Weakness: Large implementation effort suits enterprises more than small biotechs

Key facts

• Serialization: SAP Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals
• Regulations named: DSCSA, EU FMD
• Batch release: SAP Batch Release Hub for Life Sciences
• Clinical supply: SAP Intelligent Clinical Supply Management

Where it ranks

SAP S/4HANA is No. 4 in our Best ERP for Life Sciences verdict.