Coripharma is an Icelandic contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in generic pharmaceutical products and solid oral dosage forms. The company offers contract manufacturing and out-licensing services to pharmaceutical companies.
When Coripharma reopened a former Teva manufacturing site in 2018, it inherited an ERP system that had been out of support since 2009 and was heavily customized for pharma. The company needed a modern, GMP-compliant platform that could support finance, quality, R&D, supply chain, and manufacturing as the business grew.
Coripharma chose STAEDEAN Life Sciences embedded in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management.
Software and Service: STAEDEAN Life Sciences embedded in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management
Country: Iceland
Industry: Pharma Manufacturing / CDMO
Company size: 51–200 employees
Why did Coripharma need a new ERP?
Coripharma initially kept the legacy ERP, Concorde XAL, running as a short-term solution to support the reopening of the manufacturing site. However, the system could no longer be updated or supported and presented an increasing business risk.
The company needed an ERP platform that was cloud-based, regularly updated, GMP-compliant, and broad enough to support its business across finance, quality, R&D, supply chain, and manufacturing.
Most importantly, Coripharma wanted to avoid having to replace its ERP again as the company grew.
What were the key criteria?
- Pharma-ready and GMP-compliant functionality
- A cloud-based platform that is regularly updated
- Broad functionality to support future business needs
- Minimal customization and development
- The ability to add new capabilities as the business grows
- Strong pharma expertise and validation support
Why did Coripharma choose STAEDEAN?
Coripharma selected Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management as its ERP platform, with STAEDEAN Life Sciences providing the pharma-specific functionality.
STAEDEAN's pharma expertise was an important part of the decision. Rather than building pharma functionality from scratch, Coripharma could use functionality already available in the STAEDEAN Life Sciences solution.
The company also chose a phased implementation approach. Instead of a disruptive big-bang rollout, Coripharma and STAEDEAN introduce each capability when the business is ready for it. Each phase is validated, users are trained, and the team then moves on to the next capability.
“A big-bang rollout would simply mean too much disruption. We're a small company. We don't have the manpower to do it all at once.”
— Frímann Haukur Ómarsson, IT Department Manager, Coripharma
How has STAEDEAN benefited Coripharma?
A phased approach that grows with the business
Coripharma started with Finance, including Icelandic banking integration, automated statements, payments, and reconciliation. The company has since expanded into Procurement, R&D project tracking, and Stability Studies.
The phased approach allows Coripharma to add new capabilities as the business needs them, without disrupting functionality that is already in place. It also supports the company's approach of using STAEDEAN Life Sciences largely out of the box, with very little custom development.
The benefits include:
- Better visibility of data across the business
- Improved finance and banking processes
- R&D time tracking and project profitability visibility
- Improved inventory control for critical lab items
- Stability tracking within the quality process
- Reduced manual data entry through AI-enabled processes
“In every module we implement, we start to see benefits, either reduced time, or better control because data is organized and accessible in one place."
— Ulfar Helgason, Director IT & IS, Coripharma
Eight years and counting
Coripharma has been using STAEDEAN Life Sciences and Microsoft Dynamics 365 since 2018. During that time, the company has continued to grow its ERP capabilities without having to replace the platform.
By combining a cloud-based ERP, pharma-specific functionality, and a phased approach to implementation, Coripharma has built a platform that can grow with the business.
“We still feel very confident that we made the right choice. For pharma, I'd definitely recommend taking a very close look at STAEDEAN.”
— Ulfar Helgason, Director IT & IS, Coripharma
