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Internet of Things for the Lab

After years of frustration with the pen-and-paper mentality of life sciences research labs, scientists got together to create TetraScience, connecting existing instruments to the cloud to save time and improve data quality.

TetraScience connects existing instruments to the cloud to save time and improve data quality.
TetraScience connects existing instruments to the cloud to save time and improve data quality.

CRT-based desktop computers; pen and paper for note taking; scattered, disparate lab instruments from a large variety of manufacturers. Such is the scene in a typical life sciences R&D lab, where researchers come in at 2 a.m. to perform experiments because that’s when they can fit an instrument’s schedule with their own.

As a scientist in the George Whitesides Lab at Harvard University, Alok Tayi and his colleagues were often frustrated with the tools available to run experiments, and the lack of connectivity between instruments. “The tools available to us simply haven’t changed in the past half century,” Tayi said. Meanwhile, Tayi was watching the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) and connectivity in the home—remote monitoring, remote control, alerts and notifications for everything from temperature to threats—and wondering why those IoT tools hadn’t penetrated into the laboratory environment, where such capabilities would have so much more value.

After a decade and a half as a scientist, Tayi co-founded TetraScience, dedicated to building an IoT platform specifically focused on life sciences R&D. At the recent LiveWorx conference in Boston, he explained not only the need for improved connectivity and automation in the lab, but also the opportunity.

Wet lab industries spend about $250 billion a year on R&D. Pharmaceuticals make up 32%, or $80 billion, of that. “That’s a lot of money, but very few medicines are actually brought to market,” Tayi said. “There were only 22 new drugs last year. A lot of money comes in, but very little value goes out.” Some 45% of the dollars spent in biopharma R&D are wasted every year, he added.

Much of the problem comes in the fact that data and process are heavily siloed. “Scientific instruments product data and require in-person authorization,” Tayi noted. “So, men and women run around from geography to geography with pen and paper and collect data.”

Humans not only have to mediate the flow of data from one point to another, but also have to be there in person to operate experiments. “They’re postponing the work until it’s convenient for them rather than optimal for the process,” Tayi said. Pharma prices are out of control, and manufacturers are under pressure to do something about that. “Pharma companies have to look inward into how to recover those costs,” Tayi said.

TetraScience has created an IoT platform specifically targeted at wet lab industries such as pharma, biotech and agriculture, with two core needs in mind: operational data, to understand operationally what’s happening in the laboratories; and the scientific data associated with scientific experiments.

INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast
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INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast