When will labs stop Excelling and start excelling?
Research in life sciences is to a great extent about conducting all kinds of experiments. After all, there is no ready-made solution. If only there was one. Ironically, the trial and error approach also applies to many labs as far as data capture and processing is concerned. After all, in spite of downsides ranging from inaccuracy to lack of analytics and accountability, Excel is still the most common way to go in R&D labs. Yet all the while, contrary to the development of medicines, much better alternatives exist!
Goodbye to ‘dodgy’ data
Don’t get us wrong: this blog isn’t about promoting some great software solution for the greater good of our bank account. We just seriously wonder why many labs are so reluctant to embrace affordable, high-end solutions that have been available for years. To make things worse, lab assistants often manage their own Excel files without sharing relevant information and results with colleagues. A practice too that is all the more questionable in an environment that is known to be a multi-billion industry. Besides, you wouldn’t be the first pharmaceutical company that is hoping to hit the jackpot one day by selling the company for a lot of money. However, selling the place also implies selling your research data.
Our own little ‘experiment’
How impressed do you think the potential buyer will be when they find out that most, if not all of the precious data is stored in a jungle of uncontrolled Excel files? If you have managed to successfully claim the intellectual property of the medicine at all that is. We therefore call upon life sciences companies to tear down the invisible walls that have deprived R&D labs of effective, professional informatics solutions for way too long! Still not convinced? We are more than willing to arrange our own little experiment to win you over. Just contact Petrik Cuijpers to fill in the details!