NEXT ICON: RESEARCHMANAGER

On a daily basis, innovative researchers delve into vast amounts of data to make scientific breakthroughs possible. But collecting and properly organizing all this data is quite a chore. ResearchManager, run by Linsey Go, Paul Somberg and Hans Middelweerd, provides such researchers with an SaaS solution that can digitize all phases of clinical research, resulting in shorter turnaround time, greater transparency, and security. Linsey Go talks about the trio's innovation. 

This story was first published in the Next Icons Magazine. You can read the entire magazine here.

How does the tool you have make researchers' lives easier?

Linsey: “In lots of ways. We mainly focus on the researcher doing clinical research. Our tool allows us to support researchers throughout the entire process. From the assessment and approval of their study, to communication, consents and data collection: everything can be recorded in our program so that the researcher has everything in one convenient place to ensure the study runs as efficiently as possible. Everything is logged in the system, so you can't tamper with any data. So not only do you work more efficiently, you also work more transparently."

Excel can't compete with that, I suppose.

Linsey: “No, definitely not! And yet we first had to convince people that the tool we had was better than Excel. What really makes our platform unique is that it's a customized solution for our clients. We can customize everything at field level, and our tool is affordable. In fact, we'd picked up on the fact that lots of our clients had their own solution costing enormous amounts of money. And if these clients couldn't free up such sums, they often opted for Excel, which no longer complies with legislation and regulations. We, however, have been working on information security from day one and are also ISO certified. In this regard, we have a clear vision on security, which means that certain features such as emailing data through the platform aren't possible. We are very unique in that respect. We look at what the client wants and add our own twist to it, at all times with the goal of speeding up the process of clinical research and thus helping more patients."

What does that mean for the research community?

Linsey: “We have seen during the coronavirus pandemic how important it is that research continues, can be carried out quickly and is of good quality. At the same time, you obviously can't just rush a vaccine onto the market. And although there's now European legislation allowing for accelerated market entry of a drug, that doesn't mean less research has to be done on it. Which means the way in which research is conducted needs to be accelerated. Our tool allows you to collect data digitally and record it in a structured way, so you can collaborate faster worldwide. The opposite side of our impact is that laws and regulations are becoming increasingly strict. In practice, this only works if you can apply and enforce them. How do you check in Excel that no data has changed? You can't. Our tool makes data more reliable so increased numbers of better quality studies can be done."

Have more clients been coming your way since the pandemic?

Linsey: “The added value of our platform is now much clearer. Last year was also a turning point for us. We've really transitioned from a startup mindset to a growing company. We've focused on making the application and our internal business processes scalable. Our business model now aligns really well with what the client is looking for. In addition, we don't just provide our software solution, but really work with our customers and provide them with input. For example, I'm on a first-name basis with all my clients and have a clear picture of what they're struggling with. Although you may recreate a product, the mindset and character of your organization remains unique. It has taken a while to build that trust with the client; after all, we aren't doctors ourselves and were early on the market. But because we stuck to our principles, we can now make significant strides."

So what strides do you guys have in mind?

Linsey: “We're going to be focusing on CROs (contract research organizations, ed.) in the near future. These organizations provide research services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries on a contract basis. Such studies have even more to do than clinical research, because there's also a bit of CRM involved, applications have to be made, quotes sent out etc. Simply securing such a study is already quite a process where we can provide support. These CROs came our way and we then built a business model that immediately paid off. At first, we wanted to focus on North America, but we subsequently discovered that our tool can work for CROs worldwide. So why limit ourselves to that? Although we have big ambitions, we are also aware that the market is slow. Which is why we're looking at how we can work together with what's already functioning. That's how we all get ahead in the end.”