Impact of Outsourcing on Result Quality in Screening: How to Keep Data Analysis Workflows Under Control

Annual Drug Discovery Summit, Berlin, Germany
June 13, 2017

Outsourcing of screening can pose massive challenges to pharmaceutical research organizations. Experimental procedures, research processes and results that have painstakingly been standardized and perfected over years are now placed in the hands of contract research organizations (CROs) or other collaboration partners. This creates uncertainty regarding source, quality, and significance of results. It can lead to mismatches with internal experimental procedures and research processes when only parts of the screening are out-sourced. This makes it difficult to deeply understand and compare screening results in down-stream decisions, e. g. in hit-to-lead programs. The impact of missing internal knowledge on outsourced processes is increased with the complexity of the outsourced screens.

This poster looks at ways to make sure that the outsourcing company can reach the desired information level, ensuring that quality standards are met and procedures are aligned for the experimental work and data analysis as they receive it from the CRO. This includes controlling the integrity of processes, maintaining compatibility with inhouse data and procedures, and achieving simple and secure transfer of results along with raw data. We describe a solution for complete control of the process as well as a systematic transfer of experimental results between organizations, both exemplified by an advanced screening technology: automated patch clamp (APC).