Life sciences procurement refers to the process of sourcing and managing the materials, equipment, and services that support research, drug development, and scientific discovery. This includes everything from ordering lab supplies and negotiating vendor contracts to tracking budgets and maintaining compliance with regulatory standards.
Unlike traditional procurement in other industries, the life sciences field requires precision, flexibility, and deep scientific understanding. Teams often need to source niche reagents, custom lab tools or scientific equipment, or rapidly scale up supplies in response to experimental shifts or clinical trial phases. Delays, supply shortages, or even minor errors can cause major disruptions.
Procurement in the life sciences world has its own rhythm, shaped by the pace of research and the complexity of scientific workflows. While procurement in many industries focuses on volume discounts, standardization, and efficiency, life sciences teams are also juggling an entirely different set of priorities.
Here’s what sets it apart:
These nuances are why generic procurement systems often fall short in R&D environments. They weren’t built to handle the scientific context or the degree of complexity that research labs face daily. As outlined in unlocking digital procurement for R&D, a purpose-built platform can bridge that gap by offering the flexibility, visibility, and control labs actually need.
Even the most experienced teams face recurring challenges, such as:
A 2024 industry survey revealed that 69% of procurement leaders in healthcare and pharma expect to digitize their processes by 2027, yet most still rely on outdated methods. That’s a gap many are eager to close, especially as 37% of life sciences executives now rank supply chain resilience as a top organizational priority for 2025.
To navigate these challenges, high-performing procurement teams rely on five key pillars:
|
Procurement pillar |
What it means |
How the ZAGENO lab supply procurement platform helps |
|---|---|---|
|
Preferred suppliers and SLAs |
Establish relationships with vetted vendors to reduce risk and ensure consistent quality. Service-level agreements (SLAs) help securelock in pricing, delivery timelines, and issue resolution. |
Brings together 5K+ suppliers in a single platform. Supports preferred vendor programs with guided buying and visibility into SLA terms, pricing, and delivery expectations. |
|
Centralized procurement tools |
Digital platforms streamline procurement by consolidating purchases from multiple suppliers into a single system. These tools support catalog search, PO generation, budgeting, and analytics. |
Acts as a centralized marketplace where labs can search, compare, and order millions of products from thousands of suppliers, all through one login, one PO, and one invoice. |
|
Compliance and audit readiness |
In regulated environments, procurement must maintain traceable records, approval trails, and documentation. Automating these workflows improves audit and grant readiness. |
Includes custom approval workflows, internal comment fields, documentation features, and easy exportability that supports traceability and compliance across all spend |
|
Spend visibility and budgeting |
Real-time data prevents overordering, missed rebates, and budget gaps. Dashboards provide transparency to support smarter, data-driven decisions. |
Offers spend tracking dashboards, downloadable reports, and custom GL code/project/cost center tagging to help procurement and finance stay on top of budgets. |
|
Seamless procure-to-pay (P2P) integration |
Requisitions, approvals, POs, invoices, and payments should all operate in a connected workflow to reduce manual handoffs and increase control over financial operations. |
Integrates with systems like Coupa, NetSuite, and more. Provides end-to-end support for marketplace and non-marketplace purchases, streamlining POs, approvals, and invoicing. |
Getting procurement right isn’t just an operational win, it has tangible effects on research outcomes. Efficient procurement:
Put simply: when scientists don’t have to worry about where their supplies are, they can stay focused on the science.
ZAGENO is designed to simplify the procurement experience for every stakeholder in a life sciences organization. We bring together over 40 million lab products across 5,000+ suppliers, offering:
Whether you're sourcing lab tools or managing thousands of monthly orders, ZAGENO provides the infrastructure to streamline procurement from end to end.