Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1.
Enables researchers to securely collaborate both within and across their
research communities
2.
Integrates with other public databases
3.
Will require an ontology
4.
Can be extended to enable CDD to store, mine, and share data on larger
molecules such as antibodies, RNAi [29], proteins, or even eventually
generic objects like reagents, tissues, cells, and patient subpopulations
21.2
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CLOUD
CDD was the fi rst collaborative drug discovery data-hosting platform in the
cloud [using the application service provider (ASP) or software as a service
(SaaS) model] to the best of our knowledge. Today this is a model being emu-
lated by every major drug discovery informatics company, because once one
is comfortable with the security requirements, it is a fundamentally more eco-
nomical model for the customer e.g., (no software support or other related
outlay).
When fi rst envisioned (2003), CDD was a pet project within the Eli Lilly
e.Lilly think tank and was then called ChemBot. Initially the business model
for ChemBot was unclear, but it was obvious there was a disruptive potential
bringing together different researchers, molecules, models, and assays. A very
early prototype is show in Figure 21.1, from which CDD has evolved.
As it was becoming clear that the Internet was the primary cultural and
economic revolution of our times, the e.Lilly team began to envision what
the future pharmaceutical drug discovery model could look like in the Inter-
net era—and how one might have a competitive advantage by moving onto
the cloud.
The basic tenet was that in a diversifi ed world the winning pharma company
would be the one with the best software “glue” to hold projects together and
facilitate them effi ciently.
In 2003 and 2004, working with consultants Dr. Will Welch and Cignex using
the Zope Plone Content Management System as a backend, a working proto-
type was created. Furthermore it was demonstrated that there was a market
need with multiple customers signing up. Most notable was the laboratory of
Professor Jim McKerrow at the University of California at San Francisco
(UCSF), which acted as that all-important partner with a real need at the
earliest stages of the project. From day one CDD was a collaborative, Web-
based platform with requirements both to respect intellectual property (IP)
while empowering real collaborations.
In 2004, the Chembot project was offi cially spun out of Eli Lilly as an inde-
pendent company called Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD). Eli Lilly
maintained a minor position and coinvested in a syndicate with Omidyar
Network and Founders Fund a year later. Today CDD is a profi table platform
with researchers from six continents logging into their CDD Vaults™ using
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