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LABORATORY INFORMATICS Harness big data in the laboratory


Jean-Charles Wirth, Merck’s head of applied solutions for life science, discusses the firm’s acquisition of BSSN and the software they develop for laboratory scientists


We spoke to Jean-Charles Wirth a year on from Merck’s deal to buy BSSN, to see how they are developing software products for laboratory scientists and continuing BSSN’s work on the AnIML standard.


What drove the decision to acquire BSSN? Modern scientific laboratories generate immense amounts of data daily, but the value of that data remains largely untapped if it is hidden away in silos or produced by multiple, incompatible sources. Merck acquired BSSN Software


to accelerate our customers’ digital transformation in the lab. Our customers can now harmonise data across biological and analytical instruments and harness the power of big data in the lab, which is a critical component for organisations seeking to make breakthrough advances in AI and machine learning. Regardless of the software or data


systems that a company may already be using – such as ELN, LIMS, SDMS, ERP, and so on – our software can collect and convert scientific data into a single, unified format and seamlessly integrate into existing workflows.


What types of software or research tools do you provide to scientists? Our mission is to solve the toughest challenges in life science and, as the convergence of technology and science in the lab continues to progress, we see numerous opportunities to enhance our customers’ lives by solving software- related usability challenges. Dating back to 2015, one of the


strategic drivers of the Sigma-Aldrich acquisition was the strength of its digital capabilities and e-commerce platform. Since then, we have continued to make many investments in developing digital solutions for our customers. We provide a broad range of digital solutions to our customers, depending on their needs. This ranges from laboratory


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“Merck acquired BSSN Software to accelerate our customers’ digital transformation in the lab”


management software such as the Lanexo System, to our Synthia retrosynthesis software that helps chemists analyse custom synthesis pathways, and large- scale joint ventures like Syntropy, which is designed to solve enterprise-level oncology data-related challenges. Digital solutions will continue to be a focus area for Merck in the years to come.


What is the Lanexo System? Our Lanexo laboratory inventory, safety and compliance management system is a digital laboratory informatics solution that helps improve efficiency, drastically reducing the time that researchers need to spend on repetitive, error-prone tasks. We estimate that the system can provide a 97 per cent time saving on inventory management and a 92 per cent saving on setting up an experiment and documentation, as well as improving data quality and traceability. The Lanexo System is the first cloud-


based digital laboratory informatics system to offer radiofrequency labels that automatically register open dates and calculate expiry dates, digitally


capturing lab reagent data in real-time. It can be easily set up and rapidly integrated into existing experimental workflows, and allows for simple reagent identity checks. Additionally, the system provides automatic alerts to help scientists avoid using expired reagents and minimising experimental error.


BSSN had previously been involved with the AnIML standard. Will you continue to pursue standards for laboratory data? Merck is absolutely committed to the continued development and support of an open and interoperable ecosystem built on AnIML and standardisation in lab automation. BSSN Software, in particular, is a key player in this space, being the first company to deliver a complete solution of tools for vendor-neutral management of analytical and biological data based on AnIML, and we are actively partnering with organisations and instrument manufacturers seeking to implement this framework. If our current climate is an indication, it is more important than ever that data is accessible and that scientists are able to collaborate and share necessary data, either with their own internal colleagues or with external collaborators. Our BSSN Software solution now includes a new cloud-based analytical data viewer, which will make these kinds of virtual collaborations significantly easier.


Autumn 2020 Scientific Computing World 27


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