The Evolution of the Integrated Platform: Accelrys' One-Two Punch

Accelrys is on a roll this year, having made some very strategic acquisitions over the past twelve months and quickly integrating the acquisition technologies and solutions into an expanded process management and compliance portfolio.

A leading provider of laboratory informatics solutions, Accelrys introduced a new Accelrys Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) during the recent Pittsburgh Conference (Pittcon 2013) and now a new release of the Accelrys Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) joins their enterprise platform to deliver a one-two punch.  

"We expect our new LIMS to transform laboratory operations," predicts Ken Rapp, Accelrys' SVP and Managing Director, Analytical, Development, Quality and Manufacturing (ADQM) Segment. "It is the first LIMS solution with analytics that delivers the full range of Lab Execution System (LES) functionality in a regulated environment.  It has a process-centric architecture that improves product quality, increases operational effectiveness and drives innovation."

The company considers their process-centric approach to laboratory operations to be a next generation technology in contrast to the traditional sample-centric approach taken by legacy LIMS. According to Rapp, the process-centric approach manages change and organizational complexities in a systemic way to: "one, achieve repeatability and consistency of procedures; two, automatically validate operational changes; and three, maintain a lower total cost of ownership.  Essentially we are unlocking data silos and enabling data to be searchable across the enterprise."

Accelrys LIMS provides automated qualification/validation via drag-and-drop workflows that generate validation scripts and can be managed by in-house resources. After completing a workflow, a single mouse click generates an automated qualification/validation document.

Accelrys LIMS offers complete LIMS capabilities in six application areas: metrology management, stability management, sample management, work request management, inventory management and environmental monitoring. Accelrys LIMS features include:
•    Innovative workflow editors that enable the creation of precise business workflows through a simple drag-and-drop process
•    The ability to begin with one application and quickly and easily add additional LIMS capabilities without custom coding or programming
•    Built-in compliance at the core technology level that enables automatically created qualification/validation documents when new applications are added
•    Easy creation of instrument connections through an instrument library with drag-and-drop capabilities

In addition to the new LIMS, the functionality of Accelrys' ELN product has been expanded.  The latest release leverages the Accelrys Enterprise Platform to create an electronic process exactly matched to scientific workflows.

Accelrys ELN offers significant enhancements to overall usability and synthetic chemistry, including:
• Improved parallel chemistry supporting medicinal chemists' workflows with step-by-step enumeration on multi-step reaction schemes and salt stripping from enumerated products
• Flexible, intuitive reaction scaling for both single-step and multiple-step reactions, requiring just two mouse clicks to visualize scaling impact
• Enhanced experiment cloning keeps experiments compliant with latest SOPs and templates, improving experiment management and administration
• Better management of favorite materials and faster experiment design through easier access to commonly used reagents and solvents

The new LIMS and enhanced ELN are part of the Accelrys Process Management and Compliance Suite, and work with other Accelrys process execution applications to deliver an end-to-end solution.

"The bottom line," states Rapp, "is that this platform helps take medicines to market faster."