About us
What we do
Chemicals and mixtures of chemicals must be tested for toxicity before they can go into new pharmaceuticals, foods or cosmetics. For the past 70 years, this safety assessment has largely been done on animals in so-called in vivo (“in life”) tests. But testing on animals has significant drawbacks. First, it’s extremely expensive. Second, it’s slow. Third, as the physiology of lab animals is not a perfect fit with that of human, tests on animals are not always accurate. Finally, growing numbers of consumers consider in vivo tests to be unacceptable.
To reduce and replace animal testing, scientists developed in vitro (“in glass”) methods that test chemicals on cells in test tubes, flasks and petri dishes. The results already achieved with so-called “organ-on-a-chip” technology indicate the promise of these alternatives.
To in vitro, in silico methods have added the power of computers. By pooling data from previous experiments on compounds with similar composition and structures, scientists can predict the toxicity of a new chemical. Given the right amount and kind of data, new experiments on animals should no longer be needed.
But, how do scientists collect the right amount and kind of data, i.e., data that is relevant, accurate and reproducible? This is where Edelweiss Connect comes in.
Science is data-driven. A scientist doesn’t care if the data s/he needs comes from the lab next door or from a lab on the other side of the world. But, here’s the problem. A lot of data never gets out of the lab it was produced in. Sometimes, it never even gets out of the individual scientist’s CSV file. Many scientists have no idea how to share their findings and no time to figure out complicated software to do so. As a result, labs all over the world may repeat the same experiments, unaware that somebody somewhere has already solved their problem or may have relevant data for it.
Edelweiss Connect aims to bring data from different research labs together. Our strategy for doing this is two-fold. First, we provide in silico solutions that make it easy to combine data from different sources and formats into a useable form for evaluation and sharing. Second, we create integrating platforms of business partners to promote collaboration and the transfer of knowledge into industrialised solutions.
Who we are
Edelweiss Connect set up headquarters in Basel, one of the world’s great pharmaceutical/chemical research hubs. Previously known as Douglas Connect, our company has a strong track record conducting collaborative research projects, both for industry and academia. We help develop solutions to integrate data, in silico and in vitro methods and related infrastructure and help transfer solutions for industrial use and advance regulatory acceptance. By doing so, Edelweiss Connect makes it possible to develop smarter products that contribute to a sustainable, safer world.