Apollo™ for Biologics: A Fantastic Digital Journey

The cloud-based platform follows the sample testing journey, from submission to reporting, in a fast and secure way

Apollo™ for Biologics reached a major milestone this month with its public launch at BioProcess International 2023 in Boston, MA. This marked the second business—our Safety Assessment being the first—to embark on a fantastic digital journey and transformation.

The process began in an agile approach two years ago with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) providing significant value with access to sample status as well as the ability to submit samples to our two biggest facilities in North America and Europe. With further development, new functionalities and more Charles River sites have been added and Apollo™ for Biologics is today much more than an MVP.

Apollo™ for Biologics is all about information sharing and confidence in data communication. Data and data segregation are a critical part of Apollo™, which has been implemented by design into the application to ensure access, security, and confidentiality. 

“We are obsessed with improving our customer experience and providing a seamless, digital platform for employees. The marketing launch of Apollo for Global Biologics Solutions demonstrated our commitment to provide the innovative technology customers desire,” said Kerstin Dolph, Senior Vice President of Global Biologics at Charles River. “They have access to information about their programs at their fingertips and can make decisions in real time. With Apollo, our customers can accelerate their ability to bring lifesaving therapies to patients.”

Key benefit to clients

The first version of Apollo™ purposely focused on routine testing, including lot-release-testing where speed, visibility and transparency are vital. These are aspects where using digital processes to streamline interactions with Sponsors can accelerate drug development. Here is how Apollo™ works.

Apollo™ follows the complete sample testing journey from submission to reporting and supports the speed and visibility with these three core features:

• The guided Sample Submission wizard adapts to the ordered work of the client and ensures  all information needed to start testing is provided at the point of sample submission. The wizard helps avoid delays caused by missing information, which reduces time-consuming follow-ups and unnecessary communication.
• The sample tracker provides an overview of a sample’s status, including projected timelines and an extensive filter and search function. This makes finding the sample status easier and includes a link to issued reports after testing is finalized.
• The Secure file exchange module exchanges documents safely using a state-of-the-art tagging feature that organizes files in a flexible way.
  Apollo is connected to our Laboratory Information Management system (LIMS), which helps to provide nearly real-time access to data directly from the laboratory, 24/7. In short, Apollo™ provides access to sample testing data whenever a client or colleague needs it.

The improvements are not just theoretical. Respective KPIs are constantly measured and monitored to evaluate the impact of new features in order to accomplish our vision and reduce the time it takes to bring safe products and lifesaving drugs to the world. 

The creation process

Using the Design Thinking concept, Apollo™ for Biologics was co-created together with our clients. We sought their input and priorities during the process of designing and developing Apollo. 

“By talking to clients before building a product, we were able to use the Design Thinking framework to be proactive and building what truly works best for clients. The clients know their process and needs more than anyone else, so it’s been amazing being able to partner with them to create the best product for their needs.” says Brian McDonald, Product Designer of Apollo™ for Biologics. 

This approach has been game-changing and distinguishes us from those who use traditional methods. And the innovations didn’t stop with the first launch. Since then, the application has continuously evolved with new functionalities added. With constant releases, sometimes several times a week, we can be sure that clients have a new functionality as soon as possible while the development team receives instant feedback if the new functionality is working as expected or needs to be tweaked.

Evolving the functionality in short iterations assures we do not develop this product in a bubble and can quickly shift directions based on customer feedback.

Streamlining of internal processes

When implementing Apollo™ features, internal processes often need to be adjusted, too. Thus, Apollo™ has been a main driver for digitization, harmonization and streamlining of various business processes.

For instance, using our LIMS system combined with the ability to automatically upload and sign reports after release to Apollo™ has made it possible to streamline the data flow to the client.  

The successful implementation of Apollo in such a short period of time is partly due to support from Organizational Change Management, which brings change and people together holistically. Their work to ready our internal teams and customers to adopt new processes and ways of interacting with CRL has been a catalyst to successful launch. 

In conclusion

Overall, we have created, with Apollo,™ a centralized platform for client interactions where visibility into the complete sample testing journey takes center stage, and where the journey is easy and transparent. It empowers our clients to seamlessly submit samples for testing and have all their critical data at their fingertips at all times.
“With the amazing advances in digital technology, like the cloud-based Apollo platform, we are equipped more than ever to accelerate innovation at a faster pace, and together, with our colleagues and clients create healthier lives,” says Mark Mintz, Corporate Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer at Charles River. 

Oliver Schaefer, Yvette Grieg and Emily Ward are part of the team that designed and developed the Apollo platform for Global Biologics Solutions.

Biologics Testing Solutions

We have the capabilities to address the needs of clients based anywhere in the world and have specialized programs for companies that focus on vaccine, cell and gene therapy, and biosimilar development.

How Can We Help