Science Exchange (company)

Science Exchange (as opposed to The Science Exchange non-profit organization) is an online marketplace of research services, enabling scientists to outsource their research and development (R&D) to scientific institutions such as university facilities or commercial contract research organizations.[2][3][4] In addition, Science Exchange maintains enterprise-level agreements with R&D-focused organizations, such as pharmaceutical companies, medical device developers, and cosmetics companies, to provide these companies with private marketplaces of research services to streamline procurement processes, investments and contracts for outsourced services.[4][5] Science Exchange's enterprise clients include major drug and biotechnology companies, including Merck, Amgen, Gilead Sciences, and Genentech.[4][5]

Science Exchange
TypePrivate
IndustryScience
Biotechnology
Internet
Online marketplace
Founded2011
FoundersElizabeth Iorns, Dan Knox, Ryan Abbott
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Elizabeth Iorns (Co-Founder & CEO)
Dan Knox (Co-Founder & COO)
Jim Emerich (CFO)
Number of employees
94 (Jan 2018)[1]
Websitescienceexchange.com

The online science marketplace was founded in 2011 by Elizabeth Iorns, Ryan Abbott, and Dan Knox. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with additional offices in San Francisco, Boston, New Zealand, and Europe.[5] Science Exchange took part in the startup accelerator program Y Combinator in the summer of 2011.[2][3][6][7]

History

In 2011, while an Assistant Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Iorns came up with the idea for Science Exchange after needing to conduct immunology experiments, but having difficulty finding potential collaborators or providers to work with.[8][9] Iorns formed Science Exchange with Knox and Abbott, and the company applied for a place in the Y Combinator startup accelerator program.[7] The company was accepted into the Summer 2011 batch of Y Combinator and launched the first version of its website in August 2011.[7] In 2012 Iorns was recognized by the Kauffman Foundation for her role in starting Science Exchange.[10][11][12]

Business model

Scientists can search, compare and request quotes from contract research organizations and other providers of contract services on Science Exchange’s online marketplace.[4] Science Exchange vets the providers on their marketplace, contracts with them through a standardized agreement, and displays performance history and client ratings on the website.[4][13] The researcher selects a bid, and Science Exchange facilitates communication, project management and payment via its platform.[7][8][14] The company receives a service fee based on the value of the project.[7] Science Exchange also sells its software for use as an e-commerce platform for service providers.[13]

Projects

Reproducibility initiative

In August 2012 Science Exchange partnered with the open-access scientific publisher Public Library of Science (PLOS) to launch the Reproducibility Initiative, a program developed to assist researchers in validating their findings by repeating their experiments through independent laboratories.[2][15][16] The program is facilitated by the Science Exchange platform, which matches scientists with experimental service providers according to areas of expertise. Iorns has been a longtime spokesperson on the issue of reproducibility in academic research.[12][17]

In 2013 Science Exchange partnered with the Center for Open Science to reproduce findings from widely cited published research in the field of cancer research. The goal of the study, called the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology (RP:CB), is to find common reasons explaining why aspects of experiments are hard to reproduce by independent laboratories.[18][19][20] In January 2017, the first five replication studies of the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology (RP:CB) were published.[21] Three more RP:CB replication studies were published in June 2017.[22]

Independent validation program

On 30 July 2013 Science Exchange launched a program with reagent supplier antibodies-online.com, based in Aachen, Germany, to independently validate research antibodies.[23][24] [25]

Investors

In June 2011, Science Exchange received a $100,000 investment from StartFunds' Yuri Milner, a $50,000 investment from angel investor Ron Conway, and a $20,000 investment from Y Combinator as part of participating in the startup accelerator program. In December 2011 the company announced it had closed a $1.5-million seed financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz.[3][6][7][26][27] In May 2013 the company closed a $4-million Series A financing round led by Union Square Ventures, Tim O'Reilly's O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and several leading angel investors including Esther Dyson, Joshua Schachter, Lisa Gansky and Yuri Milner.[28][29][30][31] In March 2016 the company announced it had closed a $25-million Series B financing round led by Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital.[32] In June 2017 Science Exchange raised $28-million in Series C funding, led by Norwest Venture Partners. In October 2019, the company announced it had raised an additional $20 million in financing, from a combination of equity and debt sources. Maverick Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners led the financing.[33]

References
  1. https://www.linkedin.com/company/2306727/
  2. Sharon Begley (14 August 2012), More trial, less error: An effort to improve scientific studies, Reuters, retrieved 18 August 2012
  3. MixRank, Favo.rs, Science Exchange, Sprintly, Financial Post, 7 December 2011, retrieved 18 August 2012
  4. Bernadette Tansey (30 June 2017), As Big Pharma Flocks to Science Exchange, Norwest Leads $28M Funding, Xconomy, retrieved 29 Jan 2018
  5. Alex Konrad (29 June 2017), "Science Exchange Takes On $28M To Help Companies Outsource R&D", Forbes, retrieved 29 Jan 2018
  6. Ron Leuty (2 September 2011), Market for Science, San Francisco Business Times, retrieved 18 August 2012
  7. Jason Kincaid (16 August 2011), YC-Funded Science Exchange: A Central Marketplace For Core Research Facilities, TechCrunch, retrieved 18 August 2012
  8. Zoë Corbyn (19 August 2011), An eBay for Science, Nature, retrieved 18 August 2012
  9. Leading a Movement to Change the Pace of Scientific Research, Scientific American, 2 April 2012, retrieved 18 August 2012
  10. 2012 Kauffman Foundation Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Awards Recognize Entrepreneurship Excellence in Researchers, Kauffman Foundation, 14 March 2012, retrieved 18 August 2012
  11. Ron Leuty (27 April 2012), One-on-one with Science Exchange's Elizabeth Iorns, San Francisco Business Times, retrieved 18 August 2012
  12. David Zax (4 April 2012), Dropping Some Science: Scientists, Ditch The Academy And Become Entrepreneurs, Fast Company, retrieved 18 August 2012
  13. Andrew Bartolini (8 February 2019), Managing R&D spend: a briefing with Science Exchange, Ardent Partners, retrieved 18 February 2019
  14. Alex Campbell (15 September 2011), Online Marketplace Helps Professors Outsource Their Lab Research, The Chronicle of Higher Education, retrieved 18 August 2012
  15. Carl Zimmer (14 August 2012), Good Scientist! You Get a Badge, Slate, retrieved 18 August 2012
  16. Reproducibility Initiative to Increase the Value of Biomedical Research, Bio IT World, 17 August 2012, retrieved 18 August 2012
  17. Elizabeth Iorns (6 April 2012), The Need for Reproducibility in Academic Research, Science Exchange, retrieved 18 August 2012
  18. Ed Yong (18 January 2017), How Reliable Are Cancer Studies?, The Atlantic, retrieved 22 February 2017
  19. Nature editorial (18 January 2017), "Replication studies offer much more than technical details", Nature, 541 (7637): 259, Bibcode:2017Natur.541R.259., doi:10.1038/541259b, S2CID 4452092, retrieved 22 February 2017
  20. Belluz, Julia (23 January 2017), Cancer scientists are having trouble replicating groundbreaking research, Vox, retrieved 22 February 2017
  21. Richard Harris (18 January 2017), What Does it Mean When Cancer Findings Can't Be Reproduced?, NPR, retrieved 22 February 2017
  22. Open Science Framework (27 June 2017), Reproducibility Project:Cancer Biology page on the Open Science Framework, Open Science Framework, retrieved 3 December 2017
  23. Meredith Wadman (31 July 2013), "NIH mulls rules for validating key results", Nature, 500 (7460): 14, Bibcode:2013Natur.500...14W, doi:10.1038/500014a, S2CID 321809, retrieved 8 August 2013
  24. Nicola Kurth (March 23, 2014). "Rettet die Wissenschaft". Spiegel Online. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  25. Jeffrey M. Perkel (March 2014). "The Antibody challenge". BioTechniques. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  26. Jason Kincaid (2 December 2011), Science Exchange's Marketplace For Research Facilities Gets A $1.5 Million Boost, TechCrunch, retrieved 18 August 2012
  27. Ron Leuty (5 December 2011), Science Exchange Raises $1.5 M, San Francisco Business Times, retrieved 18 August 2012
  28. Peter Kafka (29 April 2013), Science Exchange Raises $3 Million to Help Outsource Experiments, AllThingsD, retrieved 3 May 2013
  29. Andy Weissman (29 April 2013), Science Exchange, USV, retrieved 3 May 2013
  30. Bryce Roberts (29 April 2013), Our Investment in Science Exchange, OATV, retrieved 3 May 2013
  31. Science Exchange (30 April 2013), Science Exchange Series A Financing, Science Exchange, retrieved 3 May 2013
  32. Sarah Buhr (23 March 2016), Science Exchange moves into big pharma with $25 million in Series B funding, TechCrunch, retrieved 30 March 2016
  33. "Science Exchange Raises Capital to Advance Innovative Outsourced R&D Platform to Drive Biopharma Productivity". www.businesswire.com. 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
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