NEED FOR COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN DRUG DISCOVERY - Collaborative Computational Technologies for Biomedical Research - page 17

Exploitation
Clients

Exploitation
Clients

ELN Application ELN Application

Pistoia Query Services
Core Services

Pistoia Query Services

Core Services

Data
Services

Data
Services

Data
Services

Data
Services

Data
Services

Data
Services

Chemical
Structures

Chemical
Structures

Experiments

Analytical Experiments Analytical

Figure 1.7 Conceptual vision for ELN project.

better exploitation of ELN data and (2) the need to build different ELN
implementations using different domain models and designs.

1.4 CONCLUSION

A precompetitive collaboration, the Pistoia Alliance, has been established to
provide the foundation of data standards, ontologies, and associated Web
services to enable pharmaceutical discovery workfl ow through common busi-
ness terms, relationships, and processes. The initial focus has been on chemistry,
biological screening, and sample logistics. All pharma companies and software
vendors are challenged by the technical interconversion, collation, and inter-
pretation of drug/agrochemical discovery data, and as such, there is a vast
amount of duplication, conversion, and testing that could be reduced if a
common foundation of data standards, ontologies, and Web services could be
promoted and ideally agreed upon within a nonproprietary and noncompeti-
tive framework. This would allow interoperability between a traditionally
diverse set of technologies to benefi t the health care sector.

REFERENCES

1 . Outlook 2010 . Boston, MA : Tufts University , 2010 .
2. Research and development in the pharmaceutical industry . Washington, DC: U.S.
Congressional Budget Offi ce, 2006 .
3. WGBH . Herbert Boyer . They Made America . Boston : PBS , 2004 .