Improving Workflow Efficiencies in Protein Formulation Laboratories Using Visual Basic for Applications

摘要

The protein formulation group develops stable formulations for both clinical and marketed protein therapeutics; this involves a systematic search of a large variable space. Several studies are set up each exploring the effect of a few variables at a time on protein stability. The amount of data generated from each study is substantial and is compounded as more studies are carried out. The business process from the data perspective was mapped to identify the data flow between the sub-processes. A number of redundancies in data entry that resulted in duplication of effort on the part of the researcher were identified. A custom Microsoft Excel Add-In package, using Visual Basic for Applications, has been developed in-house. To increase productivity and efficiency, at every step in the process, namely, planning, preparation, and execution and evaluation of the studies, these macros and templates allow automatic flow of information through the sub-processes. This has significantly reduced manual entry of data and errors in transcription and thereby led to savings in time and increased speed, reliability, and accuracy. Another advantage of using the macros is that the data format is standardized, facilitating the sharing of data and transfer of projects between teams. Further, metadata available through the use of the macros were used creatively to provide additional tools for overall project tracking.