The Pistoia Alliance has launched version 1.0 of its In Vitro Pharmacology (IVP) Assay Repository, a new platform designed to standardize how biological assays are captured, shared and reused across the life sciences industry.
Developed as part of the IVP project, the repository addresses long-standing challenges around fragmented data, inconsistent formats, and limited interoperability—helping organizations move toward more collaborative and efficient research practices.
A standardized and collaborative approach to assay data
The IVP Assay Repository provides a structured framework for registering and managing in vitro pharmacology assays in a consistent and transparent way. Ultimately, it can facilitate the sharing of critical information about assays used in in vitro pharmacology submissions with regulatory authorities. Through a guided interface, users can search, filter, and explore registered assays, as well as contribute new entries covering assay design, targets and molecular details. By applying controlled vocabularies and standardized data fields, the repository supports higher data quality, reduces duplication, and enables more effective knowledge sharing across teams, organizations, and regulatory partners.
Reflecting the repository’s role in advancing data consistency and regulatory readiness, project Steering Committee member and Associate Director of Mechanistic and Predictive Safety Profiling at Novartis, Bérengère Dumotier, PhD, highlights its broader impact: “By facilitating the systematic transmission of in vitro pharmacology data to regulators, the IVP Assay Repository (v1.0) is an important step in the realm of data management for high-quality IND submission and review by regulators. It is a FAIR-aligned, centralized open bioassay repository linked to standardized result templates and addresses the critical need for consistency and transparency during IND submission as a product of cross-industry efforts in conjunction with regulators. The IVP Assay Repository creates a shared, FAIR foundation that benefits the entire biopharma ecosystem.”
Advancing industry collaboration
The platform was developed through collaboration with regulatory authorities and Pistoia Alliance members from pharma and enterprise informatics, including Abbvie, Merck, Novartis and Zifo. This effort reflects a shared ambition to create a more connected data ecosystem for scientific innovation.
Head of Data and Digital at Zifo, Aishwarya Balajee, described the context of the repository launch as follows: “Scientific progress accelerates when knowledge and data are shared in ways that are structured, accessible, and interoperable. The IVP Assay Repository is a step forward in that direction.” On behalf of the Zifo team who developed the repository, she added: “We don’t see this as just building a tool, but as strengthening collaboration and enabling a more connected data ecosystem for the industry.”
Open for community feedback
The Assay Repository is now available to the community as an initial release, with the Pistoia Alliance inviting feedback from across the life sciences community.
As governance models and usage frameworks continue to evolve, the platform will be iteratively developed to ensure it meets the needs of researchers, data scientists, organizations, and regulators.
Supporting the future of IVP
The IVP project aims to improve the reproducibility, interoperability, and usability of in vitro pharmacology data through collaboration with key stakeholders across the biopharma ecosystem, including pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and regulators. The launch of the Assay Repository marks an important step toward this vision, supporting better data integration, reducing inefficiencies, and enabling more informed decision‑making in drug discovery and development. The project’s impact has been recognized by the industry, with the IVP project and the Assay Repository receiving an Honorable Mention at the Bio‑IT World Awards 2025.
Find out more about the IVP project and explore the Assay Repository: