PhoreMost is a new-model drug discovery company using its core expertise to develop new ‘druggable’ targets. The company aims to produce a wide array of novel ‘targeted’ therapies more efficiently and to pass these cost savings to patients.
PhoreMost developed its novel SITESEEKER technology, a live-cell phenotypic assay system that can rapidly identify unexpected, or “cryptic” druggable sites that are rarely identified with conventional non-cell based analytical methods.
SITESEEKER employs a process known as Protein Interference, which operates directly at the protein level, so that new druggable spaces can be defined as an inherent part of the target-function screening process. PhoreMost primarily carries out pooled phenotypic screening. This requires a significant amount of SOP development around cell and molecular biology techniques such as cloning, virus production and infection, flow cytometry and sample preparation for Next Generation Sequencing.
We interviewed Dr. Laura Butler, a team leader, Ned Hoyle, a senior scientist, and Dr. Sam Barker, the Business Development and Alliance Manager.
Choosing Labguru
The key challenges facing Phoremost are capturing R&D breakthroughs and advances, standardizing processes, and recording inventions for IPR protection. “When we started using Labguru we were interested in effectively organizing our data in a way that was easily searchable both to me and my colleagues. We found Labguru to be a great way to keep all of our digital resources in one place. This includes our cell lines and plasmids databases” says Laura.
Laura shared that her team chose Labguru because they really liked Labguru’s look & feel. “It’s aesthetically pleasing and very easy to work with. The search function is invaluable to us because it enables related experiments from other research groups in the company to be easily found and cross-referenced.”
Laura also mentioned that “Labguru has a very accessible structure where you can organize experiments through projects and users. This allows us to easily identify an experiment and access the data. Being able to directly import templates from protocols and SOPs ensures consistency in the experiment write-ups. Moreover, comments at the end of the experiment allow us to discuss data or clarify issues in an easy way as that comment goes straight to your email.”
-1.png?width=4761&name=Untitled%20design%20(2)-1.png)
Experiments and inventory
“A very simple but useful resource is being able to flag the experiments as successful or failed. When there is a project with a long list of entries it makes it easier to identify the one that contains the right information and reduces the time dedicated to the search. In the same way, it also allows us to access data from people that don’t work in the company anymore and facilitates line management, as it is easy to track the progress of different projects executed by different people.” says Laura.
“The Labguru inventory module includes tools that are essential for Phoremost’s activities. We are currently using this module to keep a record of our cell line stocks, plasmids, and primers. We are also starting to create a database of our compounds and reagents. This a very nice way to have everything centralized and accessible to the whole company. We can also create SOPs and protocols that can be loaded directly onto new experiments, which helps us with the write-up” adds Laura.
Collaboration
Laura praised Labguru’s team collaboration features: ”Labguru helps me keep track of what my team members are doing and allows collaborative analysis of data and experiments. This really opens up communication and creativity when planning our next steps.
Communication has improved because scientists are already aware of the data before a meeting. This saves time introducing a project or describing previous data, as this is accessible to everyone beforehand. It also helps new team members understand the project and the techniques and experiments that have been executed. If a piece of data is missing or something is not entirely clear, the owner of the experiment can be quickly notified, and information can be amended.
A centralized SOP and protocol database also guarantee that all members follow the same approaches before an experiment. This helps us stay consistent and identify problems easily. Write-up consistency also allows us to search data faster, and this improves communication within teams.”
We found Labguru a great way to keep all of our digital resources in one place, including our cell line and plasmid databases.
Data integrity and analysis
“It’s useful to keep all the data in a single location that is accessible to everyone. Old experiments might be required for publication or new projects at different times, that’s why it’s important to keep raw data along with final figures in each of the experiments. It’s possible that new figures will need to be prepared or data re-analyzed at some point to contemplate results from different angles. For that reason, we always upload raw data to experiments, as long as it’s not very heavy (i.e. microscopy or NGS data)” says Laura.
Ned adds: “ Labguru allows us to attach data in any format directly from the instrument, which is quite handy. This ensures that we never lose the original file and data can be easily shared with partners and collaborators. Another advantage is that a summarized dataset can be imported from Excel while preserving formatting. Labguru also offers the option of visualizing PowerPoints and Excel documents, which improves the possibilities for data analysis and comprehension.”
ROI from Labguru
Sam gushes: “ Labguru definitely helps us save time and be more efficient in running our lab. It enables our lab managers to seamlessly track the incoming and outgoing of consumables and lab stocks which, in turn, reduces downtime for scientists waiting for resources and results in high output from these key staff members. The ease with which Labguru can be used to manage stocks also reduces the time taken to keep a well-organized and cost-effective lab, not only in lab orders but also in storage management. Moreover, Labguru saves us time by improving communication among lab members and shortening onboarding processes for new team members”.