Merelogic

Making Biotech Data Driven

Is your biotech startup spending more time circling around decisions than making them?

Decisions like selecting indications, targets, hits, or leads?

With the right data, you can make these decisions quickly. But getting that data to a place where you can see it, in a form you can use always seems to take longer than it should.

And while your team fights with spreadsheets and you circle around decisions, your runway is only getting shorter.

Biotech startups live or die by their ability to make good decisions and make them fast.

What if you could consistently access the data that would stop the circling?

What if your team could consistently and quickly collect, organize, analyze and review the data they need? 

What if you could eliminate delays resulting from miscommunication and internal squabbling? 

What if you had data that was so clear, the decisions practically made themselves?

It may be as simple as a table that compares hits across multiple assays or as complicated as an interactive visualization that lets you explore the biological implications of a target. There’s only one consistent way to stop the circling and quickly get to a decision you can trust: data.

Start building processes and infrastructure that support decision making today.

Many startups make the mistake of pursuing purely technical solutions to these problems. They think it’s just a matter of building or buying the right software. But the thing that’s blocking you from the data you need isn’t the software you use to view it.

The solution lies in everything around the software – your organization’s processes and conventions, your teams’ habits and mindsets.

Even with the best software, if those aren’t right your team will either use the software in a way that doesn’t solve the problem, or not use it at all.

Instead of starting with the software, fixing these issues starts with addressing your processes, conventions and habits to build the space that the right software fits into.

Merelogic isn't software.

My name is Jesse Johnson and I’m an independent consultant with a background in data and software engineering supporting computational biology, data science and machine learning both inside and outside biotech. Through Merelogic I offer customized services to help biotech startups make better decisions faster with processes and infrastructure that get the right data in front of the people who need it.

My approach starts by helping you identify and design the processes, conventions and habits that will be necessary independent of the technical components and implementation. 

Then I help you select or design the best software to support these processes.

For implementation, I can bring in subcontractors, work with developers that you already have, or leave it entirely to you. My goal is to get you to where you need to be as quickly as possible, within your budget.

I typically suggest starting out with a System Evaluation to determine the highest priority areas for you to address. You can use the report from this evaluation to help define your long-term plan whether you do it with my help or on your own.

Get started today.

To get a better sense of my approach, you can check out my weekly newsletter, Scaling Biotech, or request a copy of my guide to Unblocking Biotech Data Teams

Or if you’re ready to start identifying the things you can do today to make sure your system is ready for whatever comes next, apply for a Stack Audit.

And if neither of those meet your needs, you can book a one-on-one discovery call to discuss other ways I might be able to help.

Who you’ll be working with

I’ve helped biotech startups of all sizes build processes and infrastructure that allow data to drive decision making. 

After learning the ins and outs of data infrastructure/architecture as a software engineer at Google, I’ve adapted this knowledge to biotech through roles at Verily Life Sciences, Sanofi, Cellarity and Dewpoint Therapeutics where I was VP of Data Science and Engineering.

As I pushed these biotech startups to use data more effectively, I realized that better software wasn’t enough. The real work is defining and adopting conventions and work practices that ensure the teams can use the software consistently and reproducibly. I’ve written extensively about this in my weekly newsletter, Scaling Biotech, with more than 850 subscribers.

I’ve seen first hand what it looks like when biotech startups circle around decisions because they can’t find the right data. And I’ve seen the difference it can make when you fix the situation. I want every biotech to be able to make the best decisions as quickly as possible, including yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you just another comp bio or lab informatics consultant?

The work I do complements both computational biology and lab informatics, whether you’re using internal resources or consultants. I work next to lab informatics, managing the dry lab while they manage the wet lab. I work under comp bio/data science, building the infrastructure that allows them to do their work.

How do I know you won't try to sell me something I don't need?

My goal is for every biotech startup to have the right tools, infrastructure and knowledge to change the world. When I don’t have the right expertise, I’m the first to admit it. If I’m not the best option for your needs, I’ll help you find someone who is.

Why can't we just figure this out ourselves?

You probably could. But every week you spend on trial and error will cost you even longer once you eventually figure out how to clean up the mess. Teams that are building the tracks ahead of a speeding train don’t have time to step back and think about how they work. If you learn from my past mistakes instead of your future mistakes, you can keep the train speeding along.

Do you work on LLMs or block chain?

No. If that’s really what you need, I’ll help you find the right people to help. But I prefer to do the mundane work that quietly unblocks your team to solve the problems that make them and you look like superstars.

The sooner you get started, the easier it will be.

The longer your team uses inconsistent conventions and inefficient processes, the more the problems will compound and the more expensive it will be to clean it up later. Every week you wait to get started creates hours, if not days, of additional work for your team. Let’s start building the systems that will drive your decision making today!