Is there a data capture crisis in biotech?

In recent years there has been an explosion of digital tools and platforms in the life sciences industry, designed to improve processes ranging from drug discovery and development, through to registration and commercialization.As with everything in pharma and biotech, the value of these tools hinges on the strength of the underlying data, making it essential to capture research in a robust and reliable way.One UK-based company, Labstep, is helping researchers to accomplish this with a fully automated, cloud-based digital data capture tool.While digital tools to assist medical research already exist, Labstep says that many scientists still resort to documenting experiments with pen and paper, an approach which it believes could be costing the industry billions in lost opportunities.Founded in 2016, the startup is already working with over 40 global scientific and health organisations, including GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and the UK Dementia Research Institute, as well as The Francis Crick Institute.The company has raised around $3 million to date and is looking to exceed this amount with a fresh funding round, planned for the near future.In Episode 13 of The Pharma Letter Podcast, we discuss Labstep's technology and future ambitions with the company's chief executive, Jake Schofield.