Adoption of technology has a life cycle that typically follows a bell-shaped curve. There are early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Adopting technology early comes with a risk, as not all technologies are widely adopted and many are very short lived. Adopting late also comes with a risk, because technology companies stop supporting technology after they decline. Avoiding risk is why the majority reside in the middle of the bell-shaped curve. This technology adoption life cycle is evident with bioanalytical and biomarker technologies. Working in drug development, a regulated industry, causes this technology life cycle to be prolonged, but it is still unmistakable. The number of contract research organizations (CROs) using a technology platform is an indicator of where the technology is in the life cycle.
Like anything in life, if you are not comfortable with the current situation you are willing to take greater risks to change your situation. If you are comfortable in a situation, there is no need to take risks. In the bioanalytical world being uncomfortable often translates to needing very low limits of detection, a wider assay range, better accuracy and precision, improved specificity, using less sample volume, or multiplexing (quantitating multiple analytes from a single sample). If existing technologies in the middle stages of their life cycle can meet all your needs, there is no reason to increase risk on your drug development needs using a new technology.
As bioanalytical and biomarker experts providing services to a variety of clients with different development strategies and needs, KCAS constantly monitors, evaluates and adopts proven technologies and maintains a balance of techniques to provide fit for purpose development approaches using the tools and technologies at different life cycle stages. Yes, we have developed new capabilities before that shifted focus outside of the bioanalytical world or were never widely adopted. However, we firmly believe, as a progressive and growing organization, we need to continually research and evaluate new technology platforms. Our highly experienced team will use their expertise with multiple new and innovative platforms to solve the most difficult bioanalytical challenges. We make these new technology platforms available through feasibility projects which allows our clients the opportunity to assess a technology’s ability to meet their requirements without taking on the full burden of purchasing that technology platform.
Stay tuned for a podcast from our Director of Large Molecule Services, Franklin Spriggs, on how existing and new technologies at KCAS are solving complex problems while taking on the risk burden.
Schedule a call today with KCAS’s senior scientific advisor to see if our services are a fit for your immune response characterization needs.