CASE STUDY

Transforming Animal Research through Digital Innovation

At a Glance

Animal research organizations transform fragmented, manual trial operations into unified digital ecosystems using AI-driven analytics, statistical modeling, and automated integration to reduce costs, drive compliance and accelerate timelines.

Outcomes

Lowered trial costs by automating data validation and enabling remote monitoring, eliminating manual tracking overhead and expensive site visits
Improved animal welfare through early warning systems identifying subtle behavioral distress signals before clinical symptoms appeared

Client Challenges

In the global animal health research ecosystem, structural bottlenecks such as legacy manual systems and siloed data architectures can often hinder translational research and delay drug discovery outcomes. At Cambridge PetTech, we’ve identified four critical challenges that limit operational scalability across multi-site, clinical environments.

The Automation Gap

Many protocols remain dependent on manual manipulation and paper records, introducing risks to data quality and reproducibility.

Observation Bias

Manual "cageside"monitoring is typically limited to daylight hours when animals are least active, often missing nocturnal indicators of pain or distress.

Technological Fragmentation

Global trials are burdened by a"perfect storm" of disconnected systems; sites often juggle disparate systems per trial, leading to user burnout and data failures.

Regulatory Complexity

Maintaining compliance with global regulations like GDPR and HIPAA in multi-site studies adds high costs and logistical hurdles without a unified digital framework

The Solution 

To address these barriers, Cambridge PetTech engineered a unified digital ecosystem for high-precision clinical trial management, behavioral intelligence, and data interoperability. This cloud-native ecosystem leverages automation, statistical modeling, and AI-driven analytics to achieve more intelligent insights across distributed research environments.

Unified Clinical Trial Management and Statistical Rigor

Cambridge PetTech developed a cloud-native platform to centralize the trial lifecycle, providing a "single source of truth" for clinical notes and subject data via high-fidelity Electronic Data Capture (EDC). To ensure trial integrity, the platform integrates Bayesian hierarchical models, allowing researchers to share information across subgroups and adapt trial courses in real-time—essential for rare disease studies with small sample sizes.

Automated Behavioral Analytics and ML Classification

Supporting these trials is a streaming architecture that replaces subjective observation with 24/7 behavioral analytics. Custom TensorFlow models process billions of data points to classify research endpoints—such as scratching frequency for dermatology or gait changes for orthopedics—ensuring medication efficacy is measured with high objectivity.

Diagnostic Integration and Regulatory Compliance

The solution includes a "Diagnostic Databridge" for seamless transfer of biological sample results from labs to the research database. Throughout the trial, the platform enforces strict GDPR and HIPAA standards through automated audit trails and role-based access, protecting sensitive data while meeting global privacy requirements.

AI-Driven Nutrition and Weight Management

Cambridge PetTech integrates image-based AI to provide objective Body Fat Index (BFI) scores, replacing the high variability of subjective body condition scoring. The system combines these metrics with real-time wearable data to calculate exact energy utilization and individualized metabolic requirements for every research subject. This precise modeling enables researchers to validate nutritional claims with absolute accuracy, ensuring interventions are optimized and backed by data-driven evidence.

The Outcome

The deployment of this integrated research infrastructure, which connects behavioral data streams, diagnostics, and machine learning pipelines, helped the system dramatically reduce bias, achieve superior data quality and accelerate R&D decision cycles through automated precision.

Faster Timelines and Approvals

Delivered high-fidelity evidence by enabling real-time validation of research claims and objective endpoints, such as nocturnal scratching intensity.
Reduced database-lock intervals and time-to-insight through automated data cleaning and real-time validation.

Higher Accuracy and Animal Safety

Identified subtle behavioral changes indicating distress before they were clinically apparent to technicians via automated "early warning" systems.
Utilized advanced Bayesian modeling to achieve statistically significant results with smaller sample sizes, maximizing the efficiency of every research program.

Data Security and Compliance

Ensured full compliance with GDPR and HIPAA through automated tracking and encrypted data transfers, mitigating the risk of regulatory delays or legal penalties.
Maintained absolute data integrity and confidentiality via automated audit trails and centralized documentation, ensuring all research activities are "inspection-ready" at all times.

Lower Costs and Better Efficiency

Streamlined trial monitoring phases and mitigated data integrity risks, reducing the financial impact of manual entry errors.
Enabled Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) to focus on high-value scientific analysis rather than manual administrative tracking.

Strategic Value of AI and Intelligence

Empowered researchers to move beyond basic data collection to "Clinical Data Science," where AI can predict outcomes and generate deep scientific insights.
Leveraged AI to mine new market opportunities and identify unmet needs, enabling the development of species- and breed-specific R&D protocols.

Why Cambridge PetTech

Cambridge PetTech is a division of Cambridge Technology – an organization with 25+ years of experience in driving digital transformation for leading U.S. and global organizations. Cambridge PetTech is an AI and data-driven innovation partner purpose-built to serve the Pet and Animal Health industry.

We integrate enterprise-grade AI, data and technology expertise with deep industry expertise to drive innovation and transformation across the animal health ecosystem. Our adherence to ISO 27001, SOC2 Type II, and industry best practices ensures that we meet the highest global standards for security.