AI-Powered Procurement Orchestration Platform
2021-Present
By 2021, Scientist.com had transformed from the pharmaceutical industry’s leading research marketplace into a robust platform for procurement orchestration. That same year, the company introduced a proprietary AI-powered Tumor Model Finder to advance cancer research, enabling researchers to quickly identify suitable preclinical models.
In 2022, Scientist.com expanded its offerings with the launch of the Product Hub, giving researchers access to over 15 million research reagents, consumables, and lab supplies in a single, easy-to-use platform. The following year, in 2023, the company developed an AI-powered Supplier Intelligence Portal, leveraging $2 billion in historical sales data to provide researchers with deep insights into supplier performance and capabilities. This innovation further solidified Scientist.com’s reputation for driving efficiency and transparency in biopharma procurement and earned the company recognition as one of the world’s most innovative companies.
June 2024 marked another milestone with the launch of Elisa, a private, AI-driven chatbot specifically designed for biopharma researchers. Elisa serves as a prompt-based Research Chatbot, integrating order history, private datasets, and public data to deliver tailored, real-time support. Its applications include negotiating prices, predicting study completion timelines, and answering complex research questions—offering functionality similar to ChatGPT but tailored to the unique needs of the biopharma industry.
Building on this legacy of innovation, Scientist.com recently introduced Procurement CoPilot™, a groundbreaking tool powered by Generative AI. CoPilot simplifies sourcing workflows through guided buying features and a flexible billing model, empowering researchers to manage procurement with greater ease and efficiency.
With these advancements, Scientist.com has redefined its role in the industry. It is no longer just a marketplace but a strategic partner in advancing research innovation, pioneering procurement orchestration to create streamlined, data-driven solutions that support biopharma researchers worldwide.
Enterprise Marketplace
2015-2020
In 2015, Scientist.com returned to its original vision and launched a digital marketplace designed to transform external research procurement. To achieve this, the company brought on experienced pharmaceutical industry veterans who shared a commitment to improving drug research efficiency through innovative digital solutions.
Collaborating closely with leaders like Mike Snowden and top executives at AstraZeneca and other major pharmaceutical companies, Scientist.com developed a groundbreaking legal framework to streamline the externalization of scientific research—an industry-wide first.
The company’s innovations during this period set new standards for the industry. In 2017, Scientist.com introduced COMPLi, an award-winning supplier risk management solution. In 2018, it developed and patented blockchain technology to ensure data integrity. The following year, in 2019, Scientist.com launched proprietary machine learning algorithms that improved supplier selection by analyzing over 20 key metrics, including supplier performance and request details, to provide optimized matches automatically.
Scientist.com’s enterprise software also laid the groundwork for enhanced collaboration and transparency across research teams. Internal and external suppliers could be integrated into the same workflows, breaking down silos and fostering a more unified approach to scientific research. By equipping researchers with tools that expedited supplier selection and communication, Scientist.com not only improved efficiency but also accelerated the pace of innovation during this pivotal phase.
By 2020, Scientist.com had established partnerships with most of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, solidifying its role as a leader in digital procurement.
Enterprise Software
2011-2014
Between 2011 and 2014, Scientist.com embarked on an ambitious journey to create the world’s most comprehensive database of global suppliers offering research services. This effort aimed to bridge the gap between pharmaceutical researchers and the growing network of external service providers, addressing inefficiencies in sourcing and communication that often slowed the pace of drug discovery.
During this period, Scientist.com developed innovative enterprise software that transformed the way researchers connected with suppliers. The platform empowered pharmaceutical scientists to quickly search for and identify the most suitable external and internal suppliers for their research needs. By centralizing supplier data and providing advanced search and filtering capabilities, the software eliminated the cumbersome manual processes that had previously dominated supplier selection.
One of the platform’s key innovations was its ability to streamline communication between researchers and suppliers. Instead of relying on fragmented email chains or outdated procurement systems, users could engage directly with suppliers through the platform, making inquiries, requesting proposals, and managing ongoing projects in a centralized and intuitive interface. This functionality enabled researchers to receive research proposals faster and make informed decisions with greater confidence.
This foundational work established Scientist.com as a trusted partner in the pharmaceutical industry, setting the stage for its transformation into a digital marketplace and, eventually, a procurement orchestration platform.
Public Marketplace
2008-2010
On September 15, 2008—the day Lehman Brothers collapsed and the Great Recession began—Scientist.com launched its first public e-commerce marketplace for custom research services. The timing was inauspicious; overshadowed by the global financial crisis and lacking critical features needed to address the complexities of biopharma research, the marketplace struggled to gain traction.
Despite the initial challenges, this early effort laid the foundation for what was to come. By 2010, the company’s vision caught the attention of a major pharmaceutical company that saw the potential of the platform to streamline access to both internal and external research capabilities. This marked a turning point for Scientist.com.
Over the course of a year, the team collaborated closely with the pharmaceutical company to co-develop a customized enterprise solution. The result was a new software product that transformed how pharmaceutical researchers interacted with internal core labs and external suppliers. This innovative platform enabled researchers to efficiently source, evaluate, and engage with research providers, overcoming many of the bottlenecks that had previously slowed the pace of discovery.
This pivotal collaboration not only demonstrated the adaptability and potential of Scientist.com’s platform but also set the stage for the company’s evolution into a trusted partner for the pharmaceutical industry. It was the first step in a journey that would ultimately reshape how biopharma research was conducted, making it faster, more efficient, and more connected.
Founded
in April 2007
Scientist.com, originally incorporated as The Assay Depot, Inc., was founded in April 2007 by Chris Petersen, Kevin Lustig, PhD, and Andrew Martin, PhD. The three co-founders had worked together at Kalypsys Inc., a pioneering biotech company founded by Lustig in 2001. During their time at Kalypsys, they had a transformative insight: the future of drug discovery would increasingly rely on external laboratories to conduct the experiments required to develop new medicines.
Their reasoning was clear—when managed effectively, outsourcing research to external labs could deliver superior results, faster timelines, and lower costs compared to relying solely on internal resources. This realization became the cornerstone of Scientist.com’s mission: to create a platform that would streamline access to external research capabilities, enabling scientists to focus on innovation while leveraging the efficiencies of outsourcing.
This founding vision laid the groundwork for what would become a groundbreaking platform, reshaping how biopharma companies approach research and development.
