For early-stage biotech companies, access to quality proteomics data is essential for R&D decision-making. This startup was confronted with several significant challenges to accessing these resources:

• Lack of in-house LC-MS expertise: The company did not have the funds to purchase and upkeep expensive LC-MS instrumentation, nor did they have the experienced personnel required for mass spectrometry analysis
• Difficulty identifying specific protein targets: Without LC-MS capabilities, the company was having difficulty identifying and characterizing their proteins’ targets
• High contamination of study samples: Sample contamination contributed to the complexity of their analysis; it was difficult to obtain reproducible and consistent data
• Budgetary limitations: As a startup company, they had a limited budget, and it was difficult to justify the capital expenditure (CapEx) for high-end instrumentation

Being unable to tap into these vital proteomics tools, the company was plagued by technology validation delays and a
lack of the high-quality data needed for informed R&D decision-making.