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of data management The cutting Edge


In her profile of The Edge Software Consultancy, Sophia Ktori discusses how the company is expanding its portfolio to address


the challenges of data analytics as well as data management T


he ability to maximise the utility of biological data emerging from pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and biotechnology research and


development can significantly improve development timelines, success and project costs. It’s a basic tenet, but one that has traditionally been hard to achieve because of a lack of suitable database solutions for storing the data, explains Andrew Lemon, co-founder and CEO at Te Edge Soſtware Consultancy. Te Edge was established in 2005 by


four informatics scientists who wanted to develop exactly the sort of platform that would be able to store any kind of biological data in a format that could be searched and interrogated without loss of structure or content. ‘Back in 2005 the life sciences sector was becoming disillusioned by LIMS platforms, which it perceived as being too complicated and inflexible,’ Lemon says. ‘Te informatics sector was responding by developing electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) solutions. But R&D departments were still repeating in vitro and in vivo studies that had already been carried out, because there wasn’t a database available for storing those studies and results in such a way that they could easily be found subsequently. We set up Te Edge because we could see that what was required was a platform that could retain the structure of biological data, and not just store experimental protocols.’


Biological data


management and ELN Ten years on, Te Edge offers its flagship BioRails solution as a web-based, biological data management and ELN platform that can handle any type of biological data – from high throughput screening at the early research stage, through to in vivo studies in late preclinical development – and that can support both highly structured and unstructured data. ‘You can record observations and image data, and you can annotate data and write up your experiments in parallel with storing your results,’ says Lemon. Combining data management capabilities


with an ELN in a single environment means that different groups and departments within


GROUPS CAN TRANSFER DATA WITHOUT LOSS OF MEANING


or between organisations can communicate and transfer data without loss of meaning and with no contraction, Lemon continues: ‘In today’s R&D environment you need to be able to transfer and store multiple types of structured information. Te capability to add workflow and methodology information to that data management infrastructure adds significant context. You can understand who has already done what, pull up all the details as well as the results, and have all this information ready for the next person in the chain.’


Translating scientific needs into workflow templates for a DMPK Laboratory using BioRails and Morphit


4 SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD


Analysing multi- dimensional data In parallel with developing its BioRails platform, Te Edge has developed Morphit, a data analytics solution that has been designed for capturing and analysing multi-dimensional


The Edge focuses on the full workflow for biologists


study data. As well as developing Morphit alongside BioRails, the company has responded to customer demand by developing content packs for assays that are considered standard for activities such as DMPK and screening. Other content packs are in development, in areas such as in vitro toxicology and in vivo bioassays. ‘We have prepared Morphit binders and matching workflows in BioRails for commonly used assays,’ Lemon states. ‘All the client needs to do is purchase the solution pack, install it locally, and teach it about the files that they are using. We are also enhancing Morphit to extend its analytical capabilities, so there is now support for pharmacokinetic modelling, for example.’ Te BioRails and Morphit platforms are


highly configurable and highly flexible, and allow you to store, handle and analyse structured data from just about any source,’ Lemon explains. ‘For example, one of our clients uses BioRails for managing analytical chemistry data, and we use BioRails and Morphit as part of our company expenses and accounting systems’.


Tracking external assay requests Te current, fiſth version of BioRails has been built on the back of multiple


@scwmagazine l www.scientific-computing.com


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