IDBS
Powering Quality Data Management for Scientific Breakthroughs

Today, lean methods are a predominant force that is reconstructing the idea of startups. Biotech organizations in particular are fast adopting lean methodology as it facilitates B2B collaboration and helps implement scalable and agile technology infrastructure. “B2B collaboration is also becoming the mainstay of Research and Development (R&D) for biotech organizations as it reduces the complexity and costs of an informatics infrastructure,” points out Laurence Painell, Vice President, Product Management & Marketing, IDBS. With over 25 years of experience in providing advanced software for R&D, IDBS offers innovative data management, analytics and modeling solutions that enable scientists to drive innovation and spearhead the next big discovery. “Our years of technology and domain expertise enables users to effectively link data to data, data to people, and people to people,” remarks Painell.

Firmly believing that B2B collaboration can help the life sciences industry bring products to market faster and streamline business processes, IDBS's E WorkBook platform simplifies interaction between internal and external stakeholders. Available for deployment as SaaS or on-premise installations, E-WorkBook speeds workflow, offers flexible data access via internet browsers and completely revitalizes the Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN). E-WorkBook supports scientists and regulatory groups can also generate complex reports around regulatory compliance, including Investigational New Drug (IND) reports, new Drug Applications (NDAs), and validation reports. As creating and validating regulatory documents is a time-intensive process, E-WorkBook supports the challenging reporting requirements while retaining the utmost data integrity.

In one instance, for Inventiva, a French biotech company, E-WorkBook helped centralize data management processes and improve collaboration across multiple laboratories. Inventiva was looking for a more integrated data processing system, across its multiple laboratories, and chose the E-WorkBook Suite to create links between labs as part of a more collaborative approach to its research efforts. It adapted existing protocols and automated workflows for faster experiment preparation and execution, while improving data quality.

Our years of technology and domain expertise enables users to effectively link data to data, data to people and people to people

“Additionally, our platform enabled the client to achieve productivity gains of more than 20 percent as opposed to manual processes,” states Painell.

Recently the company also unveiled E-WorkBook Connect—a cloud-based tool and an extension of E WorkBook. E WorkBook Connect enables R&D organizations to collaborate with external partners in a secure and virtualized environment. In the era of externalization and outsourcing, E-WorkBook Connect provides a safe space for users to coordinate project activities, handle complex data and documents, and discuss or review content. “Today, it is all about building end to end solutions that easily integrate with a client's existing system. Keeping that in mind we have been constantly improving our products for an enhanced analytical sciences environment,” says Painell.

Also, to ensure that experimental data for biological R&D stands up to scrutiny, the company's comprehensive screening data management solution, ActivityBase enables the entire screening workflow to be managed from a single system. ActivityBase is designed to provide the right mix of flexibility and control for screening sciences and system administrators.

Stressing heavily on innovation, the firm hosts an event, IDBSCreate where employees are encouraged to pitch in new ideas on how to better IDBS's services and solutions. “As a next step in our paperless laboratory initiative, we are looking into new technologies such as mobile apps and location aware technologies,” says Painell. Furthermore, for maximum client benefit, IDBS allows their customers to vote on desired enhancements and organizes customer working groups.
As organizations worldwide scramble towards a more virtualized R&D approach, it is evident that IDBS with its state of the art technology and drive for innovation is truly paving the way for the lab of the future.