SBX’s Taxila™ adds more power to SaferWorldbyDesign

Dr. Sucheendra Kumar Palaniappan directs the data science and engineering teams at SBX Corporation (SBX), a Japan-based company that wields Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to provide solutions to complex socio-industrial problems. Dr. Palaniappan explains how one of the key platforms in the SBX portfolio, Taxila™, can exponentially improve a scientist’s ability to keep up with breaking-news science and insights from text. 

What is Taxila™?

Taxila™ is a platform that aggregates the tons of data produced every day in natural text and converts it to actionable insights. In the pharma and toxicity space, the information relevant to essential workflows is captured from different sources of data - blogs, news channels, publications, PDFs, conferences, etc. Even when information is publicly available, it is humanly impossible to go through all these texts and get a high-level understanding to drive insights. Instead, the information comes into Taxila™, and the analysis and intelligence tools work on it. Taxila is a living system. It is not like a database. It’s not a single snapshot. Our systems look for new information published every single day. If you log in, you will get all the relevant information specific for your domain of interest published that day. 

‘Typically, scientists and regulators check multiple sources of information such as regulatory authority websites, news, scientific and regulatory communications. Taxila™ collects such information every day and automatically adds anything valuable and new. It then uses its text analysis and intelligence engine to convert such information into actionable insights.’

What kinds of tools are involved? 

Taxila™ combines contextual aggregation, machine learning, and text analysis and contextual search – all packaged together as a platform. Taxila™ uses natural language processing to aggregate data to reach actionable insights. It offers visualisation to help you quickly search for context and understand it. It also lets you generate reports and share information with colleagues. 

A platform like this can only be as good as its information. How do you determine the right sources in such a vast and complicated field as toxicology?

We work with clients to understand the sources of data they rely on, for example, concerning skin sensitisation. Then we build a custom solution to “de-noise” the information, deciding what is important to them and what is not, and we ensure that all the information is integrated - as and when it becomes available. Typically, scientists and regulators check multiple sources of information such as regulatory authority websites, news, scientific, and regulatory communications. Taxila™ collects such information every day and automatically adds anything valuable and new. It then uses its text analysis and intelligence engine to convert such information into actionable insights. We also work on clients’ internal documents because a lot of information is in PDF form.  They don’t want it in the public domain, but we help organize and digest the information already in their resources.

‘It allows a regulator to pinpoint the source of knowledge and explain from which a conclusion or a decision was made.’

SBX is a founding member of SaferWorldbyDesign. How do you see the fit with the other members?

We all share a similar space. SBX has a background in toxicology through developing Garuda, which is used in industry to drive analysis on toxicity. SaferWorldbyDesign believes that safety is a function of knowledge, so you need to be on top of everything concerning safety standards, and that means sifting through a lot of regulatory compliance documentation. Taxila™ can digest all this information and get the right kind of knowledge to scientists and regulators. Then, we can apply Machine Learning tools to build predictive models to reduce the number of tests or refine testing methodology or come up with new ways to get hidden insights into the typical workflow. It’s a perfect fit for SaferWorldbyDesign.

Could Taxila help solve the Reproducibility Crisis?

Yes, because it not only increases productivity, it provides proof of how a conclusion was reached. Taxila™ shows the power of aggregated knowledge and how they lead to better inference and decision making. It allows an investigator to pinpoint the source of knowledge from which a conclusion was made.