Newsletter April 2024


The topics for this newsletter are:

  • CDISC + TMF Europe Interchange 
  • Mapping Engine
  • Are you using Tasks in SAS Studio?
  • Start of the OCS Life Sciences Traineeship

CDISC + TMF Europe Interchange 2024 - Berlin, Germany

OCS Life Sciences will be attending the CDISC European Interchange 2024 next week in Berlin. Our team this year will include Jules van der ZalmMelanie SchoppEmmy PahmerMitchikou Tseng and Caro Sluijter.

We are pleased to announce that OCS Life Sciences is giving two presentations and one poster presentation: 


  • Emmy Pahmer and Sandeep Juneja from argenx: Implementing CDISC CORE in a cloud native, regulated environment supporting Rare Diseases submissions
  • Mitchikou Tseng: Setup of ADAE and ADTTE for Exposure-Adjusted Incidence Rate Reporting in an Integrated Summary of Safety (ISS) submission
  • Poster presentation of Caro Sluijter with Jelle van Hasselt from Centre of Human Drug Research: A custom domain for induced pain, going from source to SDTM to ADaM

Of course, OCS Life Sciences has a booth, and we invite you to visit us. We’d be more than happy to have an informal chat about your CDISC needs. We can help you with the conversion of clinical data to SDTM and ADaM, take on your TLF creation, support you in statistics and much more. We would also love to show you our Mapping Engine, a zero client footprint solution built specifically to make data conversion faster, easier, and cheaper.

We all know how these conferences go. So many talks to go and see – so why not plan ahead and schedule a meeting with us?

Planned or not, we hope to meet you at our booth! Besides talking about our services you can also play scrabble and have a chance to win Lego!


Mapping Engine

Mapping Engine is an agile solution that performs automated source-to-SDTM data transformation for clinical trials. Intricate business rules for variable and dataset level conversion are kept in a central library from where study-specific conversion specifications are generated with minimal human input. This solution is built with the SAS Macro Language and uses Microsoft Excel as its user interface. It’s been in use by top-tier pharma companies including Janssen Pharmaceutica and argenx for many years and for countless studies.

OCS Life Sciences is now exploring possibilities to take Mapping Engine to the next level. A multi-user, browser-based interface should offer a pleasant and interactive user experience. Out-of-the-box audit trailing and version control will help with regulatory compliance. A dashboard could provide direct insight into the availability of study mappings for your entire portfolio – the possibilities are virtually endless.

Our first course of action is to identify a visionary partner company to team up with. Development of solutions like these work best with a client case to drive deliverables. If you’re interested in partnering with OCS Life Sciences for the development of this next-level Mapping Engine, get in touch using the button below. To our selected partner we offer the benefit of early access and a bespoke approach, as well as an enticing financial offer. Respond today!


Are you using Tasks in SAS Studio? 

By Juan Sanchez

Then get ready for a game-changing update! SAS Studio is evolving with enhanced Custom Steps, bringing advanced functionality and seamless integration to your workflow.

Starting with the 2024.07 release, accessing the Tasks pane is easier than ever. Simply navigate to 'View > Navigation panels > Tasks'. And remember, old task functionality will be phased out by the end of 2025, so don't wait to convert existing tasks to Custom Steps.

Need help with the transition? Our expert team is here to assist you - or look at the SAS documentation site for more details.


Start of the OCS Life Sciences Traineeship 2024

On the 9th of April OCS Life Sciences started another Life Sciences Traineeship. Within the time span of two months young professionals are submerged in the world of statistical programming. During the first two months our newest team members learn how to program in SAS, supported by our most senior programmers and consultants.

Besides learning about SAS and CDISC our trainees will learn more about life as a consultant, and receive trainings and presentations from their colleagues. After acquiring their SAS Certified Programmer for SAS 9 credential, the newly gained skills are put into practice using hands-on project simulations.
 
Our next traineeship will start in October. Do you know someone who may be interested in participating in the OCS Life Sciences Traineeship? Get in touch with Marlies Nering Bögel.

Meet our trainees (from left to right): Naomi de Vries, Eirini Sfyri, Ally Sprik, Anupama Chalakkal, and Meri Laitinen