27 Dec 21
We are keen to learn your feedback on using the o2h Discovery platform Chemistry In The Cloud (CITCTM). But first, Sebastien, please tell us about your background and a bit about Cedilla Therapeutics.
I joined Cedilla Therapeutics 4 months ago to lead the DMPK group. I have been working in DMPK for 15 years and partnered with many different international CROs to perform our work. o2h Discovery is the first CRO (Contract Research Organization) we have partnered with based in India. We used to do all our ADME assays with Chinese CROs. Cedilla Therapeutics is a close-knit, driven, and patient-focused team of drug discovery and oncology experts bringing a new dimension to precision oncology. We have discovered new ways to selectively inhibit oncogenic drivers with small molecules that conditionally modulate proteins in their functional state. Our conditional inhibitors are unlocking critical and elusive cancer targets including TEAD and CDK2.
What was your experience on using CITC when collaborating with o2h Discovery?
To be honest I was really impressed. The CITC platform at o2h Discovery is a breath of fresh air, when you are used to very clunky platforms and interfaces. CITC makes the collaboration very transparent. I have been working mostly using the ADME module of CITC, interacting with Rupal and his team at o2h Discovery. My colleague Glen worked with Gopal, lead chemist, for scale-up and chemical synthesis.
“To be honest I was really impressed. CITC is a breath of fresh air…CITC makes the collaboration very transparent.”
How do you use the CITC ADME module in your work?
Via the CITC web platform I select the compound and assays that I want to get done. I was not familiar with the capabilities of CITC when I joined, and I asked for the o2h team to send me excel files with the historical results. The answer was “no need, you can see it all in CITC”. Through the platform I can see everything from time of request to the time of execution of the assay. And it is very easy to retrieve data.
“Through the platform I can see everything from time of request to the time of execution of the assay. And it is very easy to retrieve data”
How does Chemistry in the Cloud (CITC) compare to your past experience with other CROs and platforms?
When I started at Cedilla, I asked all of our CRO partners to provide data on past projects. CITC enables me to retrieve the entire historical data for our projects with o2h.
All previous CROs I have worked with had a large challenge to share data in an efficient and transparent way. Other CROs are not storing the project data in the cloud. Even some of the larger CROs could not send immediately historical data when requested.
What do you see as the advantage of using CITC as part of your collaboration with o2h Discovery?
With CITC you can track your request: assigned, done, when to expect data. I can check the exact status of our projects even on my phone.
To exemplify the importance of transparency and data accessibility, I can schedule meeting with the core teams based on data availability. Thanks to the project and data transparency provided by CITC. I have been working in this industry for 15 years and that I can get full data in 3 days turnaround time? That is really impressive.
“I have been working in this industry for 15 years and that I can get full data in 3 days turnaround time? That is really impressive.”
How do you usually deal with data sharing and communication on progress with CROs?
We can usually enforce CROs to use a specific platform e.g. to log compound and requests. I can imagine that CITC would be really useful as a SaaS product for other CROs who do not have the muscle to implement their own solution. Prior to the project Cedilla is doing with o2h Discovery, when we had a set of assays, we would create a spreadsheet with free text and try our best to automate the spreadsheet. We don’t need that with o2h. CITC is super easy to use by anyone, chemistry or biology background.
“CITC is super easy to use by anyone, chemistry or biology background.”
Are you planning to do more work with o2h Discovery?
Yes, I was so excited about the quality of work and the transparency provided by CITC.
Thank you very much for your time Sebastien, our team at o2h Discovery and o2h Technology are very pleased to hear that our efforts in developing CITC has paid off with great user experience.
Sebastien Ronseaux from Cedilla Therapeutics was interviewed by Fiona Nielsen, CEO of o2h Technology, a part of o2h Group.
