Partnering with Just Biotherapeutics to Develop LabKey Biologics

LabKey Solution

Through the partnership of LabKey and Just, LabKey Biologics was developed. A flexible software product built on the LabKey Server foundation, Biologics LIMS provides both the functionality needed to support research processes and the flexibility needed for ongoing evolution.

Core components of the product include:

Bioregistry

The bioregistry in LabKey Biologics allows the Just team to uniquely track any type of (physical or virtual) biological entity, thus reducing the duplication of research efforts and ensuring a single authoritative record for each entity. These include sequences, cell lines, plasmids, and any other needed molecular biology building blocks. The system’s understanding of relationships between or among entities also instantly builds connections between related entities for easy navigation and comparison.

Sample Tracking

Just uses LabKey Biologics to track the lineage of all samples. The application allows them to track the history of a sample through further derivations and also track the physical location of every plate and sample in their lab.

Assay Integration

Data generated through laboratory analysis at Just is captured in LabKey Biologics and linked directly to a specific sample within LabKey Biologics. This linkage provides context for each experiment result by displaying the sample’s lineage back to constituent sequences, cell lines, etc.

Media Registration

Just uses the LabKey Biologics media registration tools to increase the efficiency and consistency of media creation through the use of recipe templates. Registering media batches in LabKey Biologics also builds an automatic linkage to related samples and the results of assays run against them to help the Just team understand the potential impact of differing media.

Workflow Management

Just centralizes all requests for sample creation and analysis in LabKey Biologics. The workflow system provides team members with consistent methods for submitting requests, tracking progress, executing requests, managing workloads, and delivering requested data. The LabKey Biologics workflow management tools also provide managers with a global view of request volume, team member workload, and other key metrics to help them monitor progress and identify potential inefficiencies.

Benefits

With their implementation of Biologics LIMS, Just has enhanced the accessibility of research data for team members across the organization. Researchers are able to self-serve data (as their permissions allow), minimizing request cycles and freeing up time for experimentation and analysis.

Central registration and tracking of entities in Biologics LIMS has also greatly increased the consistency and quality of data being generated. Consistent naming structures for samples and molecular entities help increase their discoverability and provide valuable context to other Just team members.

Finally, consistent and centralized processes have greatly enhanced the team’s efficiency and increased their capacity. Through automation and centralized process management, the Just team has been able to significantly increase the number of samples passaged in their lab.

Each of these gains in visibility, quality, and capacity is helping to enhance the Just research environment and accelerating their progress towards their goal of making biotherapeutic treatments accessible to all.

“The comprehensive utilization of LabKey Biologics at Just Biotherapeutics has allowed our scientists to have a consistent system to store and retrieve entities and data, enabling increased capacity. The LabKey system has also enabled our own development efforts to extend LabKey functionality for our own applications, allowing us to quickly and flexibly adapt our internal processes.”

Randal Ketchem, Ph.D., Vice President of Molecular Design, Just Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Future Plans

Just and LabKey continue to collaborate with an ongoing focus on process optimization relevant to biotherapeutic research. Just is a member of the Product Advisory Council (PAC) that serves as a key advisor as LabKey continues to develop and expand LabKey Biologics. The PAC meets with LabKey on a monthly basis to give feedback on plans and design for LabKey Biologics. Going forward, LabKey plans to extend functionality within LabKey Biologics, particularly with an eye towards developing a framework for experiments and expanding reporting capabilities.