At Auxilius, we’re incredibly proud of the team members who help drive our mission to uncover financial inefficiencies in the R&D space, enabling biopharma companies to achieve greater transparency and control over their spending. Today, we’d like to spotlight Kristen Lueck, who leads our customer operations team. With over three years at Auxilius and a unique background in clinical data systems and public health, Kristen has played a crucial role in scaling our operations and guiding our customer base, which now includes over 70 biotech and pharma companies.
A Journey from Epidemiology to Financial Efficiency in R&D
Most of Kristen's career centered in healthcare, at SaaS healthcare and tech companies, including time spent at Veeva working with biotech and pharma customers in a similar capacity. With a master’s in epidemiology, Kristen has a unique background that combines public health/clinical data with the financial and operational side of biotech.
Her passion for addressing inefficiencies in healthcare systems and the financial dynamics of R&D ultimately led her to Auxilius. “I’ve always been interested in the inefficiencies in healthcare, particularly the financial side of R&D,” Kristen shares. “At Auxilius, we’re doing something truly impactful by helping companies streamline and automate processes that can lead to more efficient, effective R&D spend, ultimately benefiting patients.”
Auxilius: A Solution Strengthened by Service, Expertise, and Problem-Solving
When Kristen joined Auxilius, the company was just 10 employees strong, working to solve complex clinical trial financial management challenges in a space that lacked a point solution. Over the years, Auxilius has grown significantly, yet one thing remains constant: our dedication to solving real-world challenges faced by biotech and pharma companies. One of Kristen’s favorite aspects of working at Auxilius is our unique service model and diverse team of subject matter experts.
“What makes our team special is the combination of diverse expertise that spans technical accounting, clinical data management, and financial operations”
“What makes our team special is the combination of diverse expertise that spans technical accounting, clinical data management, and financial operations,” Kristen explains. “Our technical accountants bring Big Four audit experience and biotech accounting knowledge, while our clinical data managers are experts in the data we’re working with, especially when it comes to clinical trial data (EDC data). This expertise enables us to help our customers automate their processes and reduce risk, saving them time and money.”
The depth of expertise at Auxilius allows the team to tackle complex and highly nuanced areas of financial operations, such as R&D expense estimates and clinical accruals. In a space as specialized as biopharma, these processes can be particularly challenging and tedious to manage in spreadsheets.
Transforming Financial Practices Across the Industry
As Kristen and the team have worked with over 70 biopharma companies, they’ve seen firsthand the diversity of ways companies approach R&D financial practices. There is a wide range of methodologies for budgeting, forecasting, and accruing expenses, with varying levels of granularity and accuracy. However, Kristen is seeing a shift toward standardized best practices in the industry, as companies strive for greater control and transparency around R&D spend.
A key example of this shift is seen in the investigator spend category. Traditionally, many biopharma companies have relied on CROs (Contract Research Organizations) to record and estimate expenses. However, Auxilius is changing the game by offering a more granular, data-driven approach. By building accruals from the ground-up based on patient activity and clinical evidence, Auxilius is empowering its customers to gain deeper insights and accuracy around their financials, rather than relying solely on estimates from CROs.
“We’ve been facilitating more knowledge-sharing among our customers through forums and webinars, allowing industry peers to learn from each other,” says Kristen. “At the end of the day, we want to help our customers unlock efficiencies so they can focus on what they do best—pursuing patient-focused breakthroughs in biopharma.”
New Offerings, Big Wins and Real-World Impact
“One of our customers was able to uncover $500,000 in duplicate payments thanks to this automation”
The development of Auxilius’ new Investigator Payment Reconciliation product, which pairs clinical data with site contracts to provide internal estimates of site payments, is a particularly exciting new offering. “One of our customers was able to uncover $500,000 in duplicate payments thanks to this automation,” Kristen explains. “This reconciliation process is a game-changer, providing transparency and helping companies resolve billing discrepancies with their CROs and sites.”
The hard work of Kristen’s team and Auxilius’ solutions is already making a significant impact across the industry. One of the team’s favorite moments has been uncovering major cost savings and streamlining processes that were previously done manually, often with associated risks. From identifying errors in Excel spreadsheets to uncovering discrepancies in vendor agreements, Kristen’s team has saved customers significant amounts of money and time.
The team has also been able to help clients in specialized therapeutic areas, such as oncology and rare diseases, gain more timely data and visibility into accruals. “We’ve seen discrepancies of up to 30-40% between the accrual estimates we produce and the data reported by CROs,” Kristen shares. “Companies typically turn to Auxilius because they want more accurate, controlled, and defensible accruals, which is becoming increasingly critical in today’s regulatory landscape.”
Looking Ahead: Exciting Growth and New Challenges
As Kristen and her team look ahead to the future, they’re excited to continue supporting both new and existing customers with meaningful, impactful solutions. With the biopharma industry continuing to evolve, Auxilius is poised to lead the way in helping companies navigate the complexities of R&D finance, ensuring they have the tools they need to succeed.
“We’re looking forward to the year ahead, and we’re more committed than ever to making a tangible impact in biopharma’s clinical financial management,” Kristen says. “We’re here to help our customers tackle their toughest challenges and support them as they pursue innovations that ultimately lead to therapeutic breakthroughs.”
Kristen’s leadership and the expertise of the customer operations team are just a few of the reasons Auxilius continues to make waves in the biopharma industry. Stay tuned for more exciting updates as we work together to unlock the full potential of R&D finance.
Stay up to date with what is new in our industry, learn more about the upcoming products and events.
