Improving the innovation lifecycle
CAS launches Formulus in effort to help fast-track product development| 3 min read
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COLUMBUS, Ohio—CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society which specializes in scientific information solutions, recently launched Formulus, a new solution aimed at getting innovations to market faster. Formulus will address the unique information needs of formulations scientists by delivering what is said to be the world’s largest collection of formulations sourced from journals, patents and product inserts.
Formulus is intended to serve as a “one-stop shop” for formulators, given that it integrates the CAS substance collection, detailed supplier specifications and regulatory resources, offering users the ability to quickly explore the formulations landscape, identify relevant formulations approaches and source ingredients. Curated by hundreds of scientists, the new CAS collection of formulations is said to clearly identify formulation ingredients and their roles, as well as connect formulators to critical data that are also being made available in two other CAS solutions: STNext and SciFinder.
The newly expanded CAS portfolio of solutions informs the end-to-end R&D workflow, reportedly ensuring intellectual property professionals and research scientists can precisely search complex formulations disclosures to identify critical patent information, assess novelty and gain relevant context for the development of active ingredients—content that also comes with the opportunity to be licensed for in-house projects and applications.
“CAS is keenly focused on improving efficiency throughout the innovation lifecycle,” says Tim Wahlberg, vice president of product management and strategy for CAS. “Our solutions have a long history of delivering insight for research scientists. Formulus extends our offerings to accelerate the development phase. By partnering with formulators over the last three years, we have designed an information solution tailored to their unique needs and workflows that helps them get innovations to market faster.”
It is estimated that product development accounts for 30 percent of overall research and development costs, leaving industries like pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and cosmetics seeking new ways to solve problems and increase efficiency. Through Formulus, CAS hopes to inspire new ideas, reduce the phases required to optimize each formulation, and inform problem resolution by providing ready access to the detailed insights formulators need.
Moreover, formulations play a critical role in bringing safe and effective new products to market, and CAS says that over 70 percent of formulators who tested Formulus confirmed that it helped them narrow focus more quickly, reducing the overall time and resources required to optimize each formulation from early-phase clinical trials to the final marketable product. In this way, CAS maintains, Formulus fuels innovation and ensures that formulators start the development phase on the most efficient path.
“Product development is always on the edge of knowledge; you can use what people have done before to guide you. Formulus has been really effective helping me do that,” stated Dr. Barry Fanning, a senior scientist at The Andersons Inc. “The level of searchability allows me to wade through all the literature more effectively to get to the answer and get into the lab with a more informed baseline.”
Currently, the development processes formulators rely on can be lengthy and costly, often with disappointing results. It is estimated that it takes at least 10 years and an average of $4 billion for a drug to make the journey from discovery to consumer. In an economy where consumer preferences and needs are constantly evolving, efficient and effective product innovation is crucial, CAS says, and formulators are at the forefront of bringing these new product innovations to life by creating chemical combinations that produce a final product with desired characteristics and uses.
“From developing a lifesaving cancer treatment to refining current heartburn medication to be safer and more effective, products that formulators develop touch every aspect of our lives,” the company notes. “CAS partners with R&D organizations globally to provide actionable scientific insights that help them plan, innovate, protect their innovations, and predict how new markets and opportunities will evolve, and serves as a reliable resource for scientific researchers, patent professionals and business leaders around the world across commercial, academic and government sectors.”
