Accelerating Pancreatic Cancer Research at Botton-Champalimaud: 3x Cost Reduction with Seqera and Managed Compute
Read the full case study3-fold
Reduction in infrastructure costs over 5 years
100s
Hours saved ob cloud infrastructure setup
2 FTE
Equivalents saved on automating compute management
Aim
Deconvolve the complex molecular mechanisms driving pancreatic cancer, in order to develop and utilize novel biomarkers for precise patient stratification and efficacious treatment.Challenges
- →Multi-modal complexity: Integrating WGS, long-read sequencing, and spatial transcriptomics data.
- →Computational scale: Processing hundreds of internal samples plus thousands from international cohorts.
- →Infrastructure costs: Potential upfront investment for traditional HPC plus dedicated IT personnel.
- →Limited team capacity: Small bioinformatics team managing storage and processing requirements.
- →Manual bottlenecks: Cloud provisioning and infrastructure management diverting focus from research.
- →Operational delays: On-premises approach requiring lengthy lead time before analysis begins.
— Peter Bailey, PhD - Director of Translational Research
Solution
Nextflow
Orchestrate scalable, portable data pipelines across any infrastructure with full reproducibility.
Seqera Platform
Seamlessly launch, manage, and monitor data analysis runs with unified visibility and control.
Seqera Compute
Automatically provision and scale cloud resources instantly without manual configuration.
Results
With Nextflow and Seqera, BCPCC achieved day-one analytical capability and a projected 3-fold reduction in infrastructure costs over five years (€500k versus €1.5M for traditional HPC). Seqera's automatic provisioning and managed compute environments saved hundreds of setup hours and eliminated the need for two FTEs dedicated to infrastructure management, allowing complete focus on scientific research. This foundation enables the center to sequence and analyze hundreds of internal pancreatic cancer whole-genomes while reprocessing and standardizing thousands from large international cohorts, accelerating the timeline from basic research to actionable biomarkers for pancreatic cancer patients.
3x
Opportunity
Research Scalability
Deploy comprehensive multi-omic analysis faster and cost-efficiently without infrastructure delays.
Global Data Integration
Rapidly reprocess international cohorts alongside local data for accelerated biomarker discovery.
Precision Medicine
Shift pancreatic cancer care from one-size-fits-all to personalized treatments that improve survival rates.
About
The Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Center (Lisbon, Portugal) is a translational research center dedicated to deepening the biological understanding of pancreatic cancer and developing innovative treatments. As a newly established, state-of-the-art center, we leverage cutting-edge omics technologies (including whole-genome sequencing (WGS), long read sequencing, bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing, and spatial transcriptomics), alongside advanced preclinical models. By combining these technologies with detailed spatial characterization, we aim to map the molecular landscape of tumor development, heterogeneity, and evolution in pancreatic cancer. Our ultimate goal is to translate these biological discoveries into real-world clinical solutions. We are dedicated to developing genomic biomarkers and therapeutic targets that support early detection, precise patient stratification, and efficacious treatment from the bench to the bedside.
To learn more, visit https://www.fchampalimaud.org/botton-champalimaud-pancreatic-cancer-centre