| There is clear room for improvement in the administration of clinical trials. Jørn Christensen at LabWare assesses the assets of a new-generation LIMS for international medical research
Laboratory information management systems (LIMS) are now well established as a mission-critical software application for modern laboratories, as organisations strive for improved productivity and enhanced regulatory compliance. Generic, configurable LIMS products have been very successful in pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, but have often been viewed as difficult to adapt to laboratories supporting clinical trial operations. This article describes how additional functionality can be incorporated into a configurable, generic LIMS, and how the software can then be successfully implemented in laboratories analysing samples and managing logistics associated with clinical studies.
NEW-GENERATION LIMS
Commercial LIMS technology has been available for more than 20 years, and many clinical trial laboratories are already equipped with a LIMS of some description. Often these systems are home-built or legacy commercial systems based on old, proprietary technologies. Inflexibility and lack of functionality often leads to frustration with these legacy LIMS and usually provides management with a series of clear objectives for the next-generation LIMS. In particular, it is usually a key requirement that the new LIMS should be configurable, easily adaptable as an organisation’s business evolves and is able to manage a wide variety of studies, sample types and analytical methods. |
