Software Development Consulting in Creating a Dedicated System for Managing Research
Background
Adamed is one of the largest Polish pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies. As one of the few companies in this sector of the Polish market, it was founded based on the Polish scientific thought and its own patents.
It is a leader in the market of new generation drugs – as the first company in Poland in 2001, it began research on original therapies. Today it has a portfolio of over 500 products, offered to patients in over 70 countries worldwide, and has allocated 2.1 billion Polish zlotys to investments in research and development so far. It collaborates with leading universities and scientific institutes, both domestically and abroad.
Research at Adamed is conducted within three research areas, which include the search for new drugs in oncology, neuropsychiatry and diabetology. The research also includes improving the existing therapies by developing more effective drugs.
Challenges
Due to the conduct of countless research projects, tests and work in the laboratory, a vast amount of significant data has been generated. Additionally, different departments and laboratory teams work on different stages. Due to the differences in the nature of the work at various stages, the results of the experiments are recorded in various forms and have a heterogeneous nature. However, ultimately, if the legislative process occurs (e.g., to obtain permission for further research), all documentation must be consistent and comprehensible. All this is, obviously, dealt with by the relevant departments, but due to the large amount of data, the process can be very tedious and labour-intensive. The documentation created in this way should cover the entire scope of the research, from general to specific, linking individual stages together.
To facilitate this process, the bioinformatics team at Adamed started working on creating a dedicated system that would help collect all the results and observations in one place. The project was positively reviewed by the European Union, allowing Adamed’s employees to proceed with further actions.
Implementation
We began our work by familiarising ourselves with the entire process of discovering new medicinal substances and their testing, as well as with the specifics of the laboratory work. We participated in numerous meetings with the laboratory teams involved in various stages of the research work. At this stage, one of our most important tasks was to identify the key elements of the planned system, including the major design challenges and potential technical and technological difficulties that may arise during the implementation of such a system.
We also analysed the entire architecture during the planned project, taking into account the established needs and requirements. In the next stage, we worked with Adamed’s project team, participating in interviews with future system users.
Result
We provided guidance to Adamed at key stages of creating the main system designed to support the research. We participated in planning the business analysis and software architecture design, and then led the functional analysis process as advisors, conducting interviews with future users.
ImpiCode is an experienced partner in building and developing custom software, as well as a provider of high-quality consulting services. The specialists at ImpiCode have vast knowledge in various IT fields as well as high competencies. They also demonstrated an understanding of the issues related to the specifics of laboratory work in the field of research and drug design.
Marcin Feder, Adamed 
Adamed was very satisfied with the results of our work. What we achieved contributed to the creation of a system that will enable more efficient work in laboratories and all the departments involved in this process. We are pleased to have been part of such an amazing phenomenon as designing new drugs.
During the year-long consulting process for Adamed, my experiences related to working with their team of programmers, scientists and laboratory technicians have been extremely positive. The capable and communicative employees of Adamed have helped to create an information system that streamlines the process of discovering and researching new drugs. I am truly satisfied with the results of our work.
Consultant and IT Architect, ImpiCode
