The past month has been a fun one! We had over 200 people tune in for a TMF panel discussion (recording link below) and got to hear all about eclipse totality from our many east coast customers and colleagues (ok we're still a bit jealous about that - Portland was a bit too far for a good view).
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What's inside:
- Biotech in Brief: Key news stories and regulatory updates
- Resources & Events: Helpful tips, upcoming events, podcasts, and more
- Kivo Feature of the Month: Automatic form fill for quality templates
Let's dive in!
Biotech in Brief
Layoffs Aren't Laying Off: Biotech layoffs in Q1 continued. Fierce tracked 57 rounds of layoffs in Q1, the exact same number as Q1 '23, and double the rate of Q1 '22. However it's not all bad news; the overall labor market is strong (adding 303,000 jobs in March), blowing past expectations. If interest rates decline, investments may rise, and biotech funding may rise with it.
M&A All the Way: Healthcare mergers are on the rise. The industry may be on the verge of a ‘cascade of takeovers,’ reports Investing.com. Higher interest rates have led to lower valuations - i.e. cheaper companies - for Big Pharma to acquire. As we know all too well, many small pharma companies will need to sell or divest their assets...don't forget to plan ahead for future data transfers!
Parliamentary Protections: The EU Parliament has voted 495-57 to reduce data protection by six months. The new directive (which still needs to be approved by the European Council) would give pharma companies a minimum regulatory data protection period of seven and a half years - six months less than under current policies.
Finally, a happy shoutout to Kivo customer Vial for being named one of the top 100 startup employers in the country by Forbes! (And yes, they are hiring 😉)
Resources & Events
🔥 Coming up: Want to see what's new with Kivo? We'll be debuting our latest improvements and new features in our Q2 Feature Webinar on Thursday, May 23rd at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Register now to catch the updates live!
Working with a CRO? Make sure you are on the same page about your TMF. If you're new to the CRO relationship, you can get up to speed on how they are managing things by asking these 7 questions. Or, dive deeper with this whitepaper on CRO Collaboration.
👀 Catch the playback: In case you missed it live, our panel discussion on TMF Management & Migration in 2024 is now available on-demand. We had over 200 attendees for this one; don't miss it!
Feature of the Month
The feature we're highlighting this month is...*drumroll*...automatic form fill for quality templates!
Let's say that you are logging a new quality activity, such as a CAPA. You'll be prompted to fill in the associated information (department, due date, etc). These fields are fully configurable, and you can choose what fields are required for your organization. Once you've filled out the information, you can Add to Cabinet with one click.
Add to Cabinet will pull up a menu where you can choose your Cabinet and templated folder structure. For this example, we'll choose a CAPA template. .
Once the template is added, the system will automatically create the required folders and forms. Now, you have the option to Generate Documents, such as a CAPA Record Form.
And now for the magic 🪄 After selecting which template you would like to generate, the system will pull the information from the original quality activity and fill in the template for you! 
Saving time? Check ✅
Reducing human error? Check ✅
A system that works like you want it to? Check ✅ 😎
To see more of Kivo's quality capabilities, check out click-through tour of our quality module. Second, don't forget to join us on May 23rd to see the latest and greatest across Quality, Regulatory, and Clinical in Kivo! And finally, to get a copy of this newsletter each month, sign up below:
