Voyager - Case Study

Case Study: Unified Data Archival and Process Monitoring for US-Based Biopharma 

Background 

Voyager is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing gene therapies and other medicines for severe neurological diseases. The company was performing critical process development utilizing a diverse fleet of bioreactors, including: 

• 18+ R&D Bioreactors 

• 5+ Pilot Bioreactors 

• 3+ 200L Scale Bioreactors 

The Challenge 

The customer struggled with fragmented data collection across these disparate systems. Key pain points included: 

• Lack of Vendor Support: Machine OEMs did not support the required connectivity between different brands. 

• Monitoring Gaps: Scientists could not monitor live process data during odd hours or from remote locations outside the lab. 

• Lack of unified data accessibility: Data was not findable, accessible and interoperable across bioreactor technologies 

• Cloud Hurdles: An initial plan to migrate data to AWS Cloud was discarded due to persistent connectivity issues and the complexity of moving high-density data. 

The Factorian Solution 

Factorian implemented an on-premise data integration strategy that bypassed the need for cloud migration while solving the core connectivity issues. 

• Legacy System Integration: Factorian successfully established connectivity to the “difficult-to-connect” legacy bioreactor systems from various bioreactor vendors. Data was now findable, accessible and interoperable across technologies.

• Unified Dashboards: Browser-based, user-driven interfaces accessible via the company LAN and VPN, enabling secure, 24/7 remote monitoring and trend analysis. 

• High-Availability Infrastructure: Deployed a Factorian 3-node hardware cluster, providing a redundant architecture that ensured high uptime with minimal maintenance required from local IT teams. 

Results 

• Centralized bioprocess data with a single source of truth, reducing manual data consolidation and reclaiming 25% of research time for scientists.  

• Implemented real-time automated alerts to trigger immediate corrective actions, successfully mitigating risks of critical process failures and remote monitoring of cell culture runs. 

• Streamlined external partnerships by standardizing data models and enabling secure, seamless data exchange. 

By centralizing machine data on-premise Factorian cluster, the customer eliminated the machine connectivity issues and costs and technical barriers of cloud transfer. Scientists gained the ability to monitor real-time trends from anywhere, ensuring process stability and accelerating development timelines.