Opening the vault for secure drug discovery collaborations

Drug discovery creates untold levels of data, from basic biological measurements and chemical structures to preclinical and clinical test results. When it comes to drug discovery informatics, the default method for data storage and management is the humble spreadsheet. This method might be adequate for a scientist working alone, but is this protocol fit for purpose when it comes to academic or industry researchers doing deep collaborative work that relies on storing, recalling, and quickly sharing large amounts of data?

Spreadsheet files have several flaws when it comes to drug discovery. It is nearly impossible to keep everyone in sync with the latest project data when sharing many spreadsheets among multiple scientists. “We needed a way to capture the data we were creating and be able to share and analyze it,” said Malcolm Kendall, speaking about his time as president and CEO of Indel Therapeutics in Vancouver, Canada. “We were [just] capturing data on spreadsheets.”

What’s more, spreadsheet data cells are not searchable on a hard drive: a scientist looking for a specific data value range or chemical structure, for instance, will not be able to simply use their computer’s finder window, much less use multiple complex criteria. These issues will waste time, and any confusion might even lead to unsound research decisions.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of sharing spreadsheets is the potential for security breaches. Passing files back and forth over email is insecure, even when done through a local server with internal safeguards. There is evidence that hackers are increasingly targeting medical data. As of August 2018, the US Health and Human Services Department had already had 418 security breaches reported over the previous 24 months. That’s over 17 breaches per month, or one breach every 1.75 days. When the data stolen contains highly personal information such as genetic test results, there are serious ramifications for individuals and their families. Drug discovery research relies on deeply sensitive information, yet collaboration cannot work without shareable and searchable databases.

Into the Vault

Over the past ten years, many scientists at both large and small biotech companies had expressed frustrations over the lack of tools for secure, distributed drug discovery to Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD), a data management group in the San Francisco Bay area of California. In response, CDD created a software solution called CDD Vault, a cloud-based platform for drug discovery informatics hosted through a web interface.

CDD Vault is finding its audience. Dan Goldberg is the Director of Discovery Research at Kineta in Seattle, Washington. Kineta is an emerging biotech company and Goldberg’s group is focused primarily on two main therapeutic areas: chronic pain management and immune-oncology. Before joining Kineta, Goldberg was introduced to CDD Vault by chemistry consultants who suggested he use it instead of spreadsheets to manage his data. And he has not gone back. “I find it to be an incredibly useful tool. The team members here are using it on a daily basis. It allows us to harmonize and harness all the information that we need in one central location and it’s very intuitive and user friendly.”

It’s not just privately owned biotechs that can benefit from better collaborative working. David Swinney is the Chief Executive Officer of the not-for-profit Institute for Rare and Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (iRND3), based in Mountain View, California. iRND3 is focused on the early phases of drug discovery for diseases such as Chagas disease, and Leishmaniasis, in particular, finding new mechanisms and new candidates for preclinical proof-of-concept testing.

However, Swinney and his team found that spreadsheets were not fit for purpose in enabling their collaborative work, so he looked around for a solution. “We needed a system to manage the compounds and assay results — registering compounds, storing assay results and visualizing the data as well as sorting and analyzing the data,” says Swinney. “CDD Vault satisfied that need. CDD Vault provides iRND3 with a useful system to store our data, visualize it and share it with collaborators.”

To learn more about how cloud-based collaboration can speed drug discovery, visit CDD Vault.