At the 2025 Veeva R&D and Quality Summit Europe, Marta Jureczko-Hinzmann, Senior Director of Global Clinical Solutions at AstraZeneca, shared how the company is transforming sponsor-site collaboration through the adoption of Site Connect. As part of AstraZeneca’s bold 2030 ambition—to launch 20 new medicines and become carbon negative—streamlining clinical trial operations has become essential. With growing trial complexity and fragmented site experiences across therapeutic areas, AstraZeneca implemented Site Connect to automate the distribution of safety letters (INDSRs), previously handled through over 10 million annual email notifications across 4,500 sites and 3,000 ethics committees.
By reducing manual steps by 70%, Site Connect has not only improved compliance and inspection readiness but also unified processes across both internal and outsourced studies. The system integrates with AstraZeneca’s safety database, adapting workflows to local regulatory requirements across 80+ countries, while giving monitors and investigators a single platform to review and acknowledge reports.
Marta emphasized that change management was key to the successful “big bang” rollout, which included early stakeholder engagement, tailored training, and drop-in Q&A sessions. Beyond efficiency gains, the transformation redefined team roles—freeing staff from manual tasks and empowering them as country-level business administrators. With this shift, AstraZeneca is now positioned to standardize site experiences regardless of sponsor or delivery model, paving the way for accelerated trials and faster patient access to new therapies.
Moe Alsumidaie is Chief Editor of The Clinical Trial Vanguard. Moe holds decades of experience in the clinical trials industry. Moe also serves as Head of Research at CliniBiz and Chief Data Scientist at Annex Clinical Corporation.
