Eli Lilly chooses IT company for global ops systems

TopCoder has been appointed by Eli Lilly to build IT applications for its global drug development operations, it has announced.

According to Computer World (CW), Lilly is the latest in a line of companies to enlist the help of TopCoder.

It said the IT company is well known for its unique relationship with “rock star” programmers and the manager of discovery research IT at Lilly, Everett Lee, suggested its flexible approach was attractive to Lilly.

“[TopCoder] offers a unique business model for us to collaborate with

“From an IT standpoint … a lot of the things we are going after are big and bold ventures that any IT organisation couldn’t do by itself.”

TopCoder will begin by seeking to enhance Lilly’s process for requesting and distributing chemical samples around the world, CW added.

Weekly algorithm competitions and two-week marathons are held via TopCoder’s website and programmers compete against each other for financial prizes.