How digitizing data collection and analysis in BioPharma can drive better, faster insights

Moving from spreadsheets to automated data collection and processing is far from easy, but it could revolutionize drug development. It’s time for the biopharma industry to embrace end-to-end digitalization.

When it comes to collecting and analyzing data, many biopharma companies are still in the digital dark ages. They process data using tools such as Microsoft Excel, which has a lot of capabilities but isn’t tailored to biopharma. Those that do undergo a digital transformation often install fragmented software tools that generate data in silos, requiring a lot of manpower to consolidate, format and chart the data. This is a laborious process that involves manually collating and assimilating data from disparate systems.

As the volume of data generated by the biopharma industry explodes, this fragmented approach simply won’t cut it. Imagine a room full of bioreactors generating process-monitoring data every minute, with cell culture sampling performed a number of times a day and wanting to compare these bioreactors for performance and efficiency. That alone would generate hundreds of thousands of data points. Today, an increasing number of biopharma companies are looking to adopt sophisticated digital technologies that would accelerate their digitalization endeavors by continuously and automatically pulling in data from the vast network of machines they use in their laboratories, which allows them to innovate with available and reliable data sooner. One such application that’s of growing interest is the “digital twin,” which pulls in data from multiple sensors and systems to model a process in silico, analyze it and provide feedback that scientists can use to optimize the process in situ.

Read the full article on the MedCity News website.

About the author

Unjulie Bhanot is the Product Marketing Manager for Process Development and Manufacturing at IDBS.

With over 10 years of experience in the biopharma informatics space, she has led the strategy and development of IDBS’ Bioprocess solutions and was instrumental in the launch of IDBS Polar to market. Prior to joining IDBS, Unjulie worked as an R&D scientist at Lonza Biologics and UCB.

She received a BSc in Biochemistry and MSc in Immunology from Imperial College London.