What is IRT/RTSM?
IRT (Interactive Response Technology) and RTSM (Randomization and Trial Supply Management) are two names for the same category of clinical trial system: software that randomizes patients to treatment arms and manages drug assignment and resupply at sites during a trial. Major vendors include Suvoda, 4G Clinical, Signant Health, and Endpoint Clinical.
An IRT/RTSM system is transactional and execution-focused. When a patient is randomized, the IRT assigns them to an arm and allocates specific kits; when site inventory drops below a threshold, it triggers a resupply shipment from the depot. It is the system of record for what happened to each kit during the conduct of the trial.
What an IRT is not is a planning system. It manages inventory that already exists against rules configured at study setup; it does not forecast how much drug to manufacture, when to schedule packaging runs, or how demand will evolve as enrollment assumptions change. Those forward-looking questions belong to the demand forecasting and supply planning process (CD&OP), which most sponsors today run in spreadsheets alongside their IRT.
The two categories are complements: the supply plan decides how much drug to make and where to position it; the IRT executes site-level distribution of that drug once it exists.
How TrialSupply handles this
TrialSupply is not an IRT and does not replace one. It covers the planning layer — demand forecasting and supply planning on a monthly CD&OP cadence — that IRT systems are not designed for, and is built to work alongside whatever IRT a sponsor uses.