The “Admin Tax” on Drug Discovery: How Much of Your Day is Actually Science?

November 9, 2026
Thought Leadership
The “Admin Tax” on Drug Discovery: How Much of Your Day is Actually Science?
November 9, 2026
Thought Leadership
The “Admin Tax” on Drug Discovery: How Much of Your Day is Actually Science?
November 9, 2026

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Scientific research is built on precision, collaboration, and efficiency. But when it comes to the software infrastructure that supports these critical workflows, things are often less than ideal. Too many research organizations rely on legacy systems, brittle pipelines, and deployment processes that aren’t designed for scale, security, or flexibility.

At Elixir Software, we specialize in building scientific workflow solutions that eliminate bottlenecks, improve visibility, and ensure that research teams can focus on what they do best: advancing science. Our work has shown us firsthand how modern infrastructure can transform how scientific teams operate. However, technology doesn’t stand still—and neither can we.

This blog series is about the process of modernizing scientific software infrastructure: the tools, techniques, and philosophies we’re applying to build scalable, secure, and resilient solutions for research-driven organizations.

 

If you work at the intersection of science and software, this series is for you. We’re writing for:


  1. Scientific Leaders and Research Teams – You might not be deep in the weeds of cloud infrastructure, but you care about reliability, security, and performance. You want software that works when you need it, every time.
  2. Software Engineers and DevOps Professionals – If you’re navigating the challenges of deploying and maintaining infrastructure for research environments, we’ll be discussing real-world solutions to real-world problems.
  3. Platform Engineers & Team Leaders – A strong foundation isn’t just about technology, but also about how teams work together to roll out and sustain these improvements. We’ll be exploring team structures, cross-team interactions, and metrics like MONK to measure developer adoption and engagement.



We’re not just upgrading our stack for the sake of it. Scientific software infrastructure is often an afterthought, which leads to slow deployments, unpredictable downtime, and security risks. We believe that by adopting best practices from modern cloud architecture, we can:


  • Make scientific software more resilient – Cloud-agnostic, multi-AZ deployments, and self-healing systems ensure research workflows keep running, no matter what.
  • Ensure continuous availability – Zero-downtime deployments and automated failovers mean fewer disruptions.
  • Enhance security – Scientific data is valuable and often sensitive. We’re implementing stronger security frameworks to keep it safe.
  • Improve developer experience – We’re using GitOps to automate infrastructure deployments and reduce the time it takes to deliver new features and fixes.
  • Scale intelligently – Scientific research is dynamic. Our infrastructure must handle variable workloads efficiently.
  • Build the right teams to support all of this – None of these improvements matter if they aren’t supported by a well-structured team. We’ll explore best practices in team organization, cross-functional collaboration, and measurement frameworks to ensure adoption and success.



Over the next few posts, we’ll break down how we’re implementing these improvements, including:


  • Resilience – Designing failover systems that can withstand disruptions.
  • Zero-Downtime Deployments – How we’re rolling out updates without interrupting researchers.
  • Security Enhancements – Best practices we’re applying to protect sensitive data.
  • GitOps in Action – How we’re using automation to streamline software updates and infrastructure changes.
  • Scaling for the Future – Lessons learned in building infrastructure that grows with the needs of scientific teams.
  • Team Structure & Cross-Team Collaboration – Exploring how effective team structures enable success in rolling out and maintaining these improvements. We’ll also discuss MONK metrics to measure developer buy-in and engagement, ensuring that infrastructure changes are embraced rather than resisted.


We’re not just improving our own stack - we want to share what we learn along the way. If you’ve ever had to balance cutting-edge research with cutting-edge software, we think you’ll find something useful here. Welcome aboard.


The Hidden Cost No One Tracks

It’s an interesting question. If most discovery teams tracked their time accurately, the results would probably highlight the real issue. How many hours are spent designing molecules, analysing data, and thinking deeply about SAR? But how many are spent chasing CRO updates, hunting for the latest spreadsheet, or preparing slides for a status meeting?


Drug discovery has always been challenging, however the science of designing molecules, testing hypotheses, and iterating on structure-activity relationships - is only part of the challenge. The other part is the sheer operational overhead, with disconnected systems, siloed data and workflows that have been patched together over years that have never quite integrated.


Where the Admin Tax Appears

In practice, this can look like:


  • Synthesis targets tracked in multiple spreadsheets and notebooks.
  • Requests submitted by email, with no centralised view of sample status.
  • Data scattered across several tools that don’t talk to each other.
  • CRO partners sending updates late, inconsistently, or not at all.

 

When a project director has to spend hours chasing updates and stitching together reports, decisions stall. When chemists can’t quickly see which compounds are moving forward and which are stuck, it’s difficult to know what to focus on.


When teams rely on old data, they can end up duplicating work that’s already been done. All of that lost time comes straight out of the discovery science, and for smaller biotech’s in particular, this can be a significant amount of an already limited research budget.


"We realised that the science was being slowed down because people were spending all this time preparing slides for meetings, rather than actually doing the experiments."


Dr Paul Faulder, Co-Founder & CEO, Elixir Software




Removing the Admin - Working Smarter, not Harder

The solution is clear - removing the administrative burden by creating a single place where all data lives together in a real-time, shared source of truth. This is exactly what Elixir built with iTraX™ Chemistry. Developed in close collaboration with working scientists, the platform addresses the real challenges of disconnected discovery workflows.


Elixir’s own Head of Commercial, Nicola Dennis, previously a medicinal chemist and iTraX user herself, brings that lived experience directly into her customer conversations. She comments, “while at AstraZeneca, I used iTraX Chemistry (known then as chemTraX) every day as part of our medicinal chemistry activities. It wasn't just somewhere to track compounds – it was the centre of our synthesis meetings."


In practice, the team would use iTraX to:


  • Filter compounds and DesignSets live
  • Review synthesis progress
  • Discuss stalled compounds
  • Share new ideas
  • Collectively decide which compounds to prioritise next


What Happens When the Data Finally Comes Together?

When data is unified and visible:


  • Chemists get hours back for actual science.
  • Project leads can make decisions based on real-time data.
  • CRO partners become integrated contributors.
  • Teams stop chasing information and start acting on it.

 

By unifying data, iTraX Chemistry builds a complete foundation for optimum collaboration across teams and partners. Instead of waiting for updates, chasing files, or preparing for endless review meetings, everyone can see and act on the same information in real time.


“Coordinating medicinal chemistry design ideas, prioritisation and tracking of synthesis progress and compound testing for multiple projects involving many collaborating partners in different continents would be almost unthinkable without iTraX.”


Program Director, Global Pharma


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