The ELF Honest Data Broker: informatics enabling public-private collaboration in a precompetitive arena

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical industry
• Drug discovery informatics

Background:

• Precompetitive collaborations are emerging in the pharmaceutical sector.
• New informatics systems are needed to support these collaborative models.
• The European Lead Factory (ELF) is a 30-partner precompetitive initiative.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the ELF Honest Data Broker, a cloud-based informatics system.
• To enable the execution and management of a unique HTS screening and triage workflow within the ELF collaboration.

Main Methods:

• Development of a cloud-based informatics system.
• Implementation of fine-grained permissions and management tools.
• Integration of scientific triage tools for data handling.

Main Results:

• The ELF Honest Data Broker provides essential tools for managing the collaborative workflow.
• The system balances intellectual property and scientific requirements of diverse partners.
• Facilitates the discovery of small molecule hits against novel biological targets.

Conclusions:

• The ELF Honest Data Broker is a key informatics solution for precompetitive pharmaceutical research.
• This system effectively supports complex, multi-partner drug discovery workflows.
• Enables efficient and secure data management in collaborative research environments.