Scientists are some of the “greatest data documenters in the world,” says Joe Hardin, the Founder of Durham-based WikiELN. But they don’t always excel at or have the necessary tools for organizing their data in a way that makes it easy to sift through or return to.
This poses two significant problems in the digital age. The first is that data that is well-documented but poorly organized is inherently less searchable—and thus, to an extent, less valuable. The second is that the same type of unorganized data is challenging to share in collaborations, particularly over extended periods of time.
With his emerging startup WikiELN, Hardin is attempting to solve these problems by blending electronic lab notebook (ELN) principles with an AI-backed layout that is easy to search and reference.
Having spent 10 years of his career in biotech and biopharma, Hardin consistently noticed that there were problematic gaps in expertise between vendors and the labs and other clients—such as large health companies running clinical trials—they might collaborate with.
Hardin recalls some of his past clients, who were experts on subjects such as gene therapy and monoclonal antibodies, and notes that, “despite their expertise, they had very little knowledge about [certain relevant products]… Someone that is studying the best way to change the genome of something probably doesn’t know a ton about centrifuges—but they need a centrifuge for their process.”
To begin to bridge these types of gaps in expertise and improve collaboration between biotech vendors and clients, Hardin went back to school. He earned a Masters in Data Science from the University of Colorado and subsequently fine-tuned his vision for WikiELN.
That vision is in the name.
First and foremost, the product Hardin has developed is an ELN. That is to say, it is a digital lab notebook that upholds important features of its physical counterparts. For instance, scientists have to sign their names on their contributions, and changes or additions to existing notes cannot be made without being clearly identified.
As for the “Wiki” of it all, Hardin has designed his version of an ELN to “have data organized in a way that is reminiscent of Wikipedia, where you can spend five minutes learning about the sun or you can spend 15 hours clicking links, reading the sources, etc.” With a focus on how two or more labs or similar entities can come together and collaborate, WikiELN facilitates both snapshot, high-level overviews and detailed “deep dives” as needed.
Standing Out
There are other ELNs out there (such as Benchling and LabGuru), as well as various tools that different labs can use to collaborate (from Dropbox and Google Drive to Notion). WikiELN sets itself apart primarily by melding the two functions, organizing an ELN as a searchable, collaborative tool.
Crucially, though, Hardin also believes he can further differentiate his startup by securing compliances that will make it more appealing—if not flat-out more responsible—for vendors to use.
Specifically, the startup is already in the process of securing full FDA (Food and Drug Administration) compliance. Next, it will go through the external audits required for SOC-2 compliance, which represents a commitment to information security. These features are vital for vendors who might consider using a product like this, because if any part of the process of, say, getting an initial new drug (IND) to market is not secure or FDA-compliant, the whole process can be set back.
“There is no direct competitor, as far as I know, that is compliant with the FDA,” Hardin says.
While in the process of securing compliances, WikiELN is demo’ing a version of its product and enjoying “rapidly improving feedback” from early users. The startup is also going through CED’s GRO Incubator, which as Hardin says has already “really accelerated things, especially on the business side.”
Once FDA compliance is secured (hopefully this fall), Hardin plans to onboard initial clients. These will come from the biotech space, with a primary focus on smaller vendors outsourcing their products and/or exploring clinical trials with help from larger partners.
WikiELN will be sold to vendors on a subscription basis. Once a vendor subscribes, they will be able to set up as many “notebooks” as they need to collaborate with different partners individually. The plan is for multiple tiers of the subscription to be available according to file-storage needs and associated memory use and runtime.
“If you are a vendor and you’re trying to communicate with your clients in the biotech space,” Hardin says, “let us know, and we will bend over backwards to help you.”
