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CDD Vault holds discovery data. Seal runs development, the lab, the batch and quality.

Seal, the GxP execution system, is your eBR, your QMS and more. Neil, your AI agent, does the paperwork across your systems. You sign. MiAlgae cut documentation time by 75%. Start with one process beside CDD Vault.

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Where CDD Vault falls short.

From CDD’s own pages, its help centre and its buyer’s guide.

  • Core
    Registration, activity, assays
    Modules
    ELN, inventory, curves, AI
    Specifications, release
    Not on its product list
    Deviations, CAPA
    Not on its product list

    Built for discovery.

    CDD calls CDD Vault a system of record for preclinical drug discovery, and its product list names no specifications, release testing, deviations or CAPA. In Seal, the lab, the batch and quality are one set of records.

    CDD, Pricing
  • CDD’s buyer’s guide
    “not a fit for the most complex, multi-departmental enterprises”
    Where it fits
    “more standardized R&D workflows”

    Not for the most complex enterprises.

    CDD’s own buyer’s guide says CDD Vault suits “more standardized R&D workflows” and is “not a fit for the most complex, multi-departmental enterprises”. Seal runs development, the lab, the batch and quality.

    Collaborative Drug Discovery, February 2025
  • Types beyond structures
    Enabled by CDD Support
    Duplicate-structure rule
    Reset by CDD Support
    Vault name
    Set by CDD staff
    Seal
    Neil, then your approval

    Settings only CDD can change.

    A vault registers only chemical structures until CDD Support enables other types, and only CDD Support can reset its duplicate-structure rule. In Seal, Neil configures the first process from your procedure, and your team approves it.

    CDD Vault Help Center, October 2026
  • Docking
    Molecules against proteins
    Inference
    Automated QSAR models
    Neil
    Drafts the change

    Its AI works on molecules. Neil does the paperwork.

    CDD Vault’s AI suggests bioisosteres, folds sequences, docks molecules and runs QSAR models. Neil prepares the change itself and the paperwork around it, for your team to approve.

    CDD, AI Drug Discovery

See it in Seal.

Real Seal screens with fictional test data: a protocol, the experiment run from it, and a release test on the same records.

  1. 1

    A protocol, structured.

    PR-014 defines each parameter, keeps the calculation with its units, and says what it may be used for.

    Protocol PR-014, assay development, in Seal: a preparation instruction, a table of parameters with defined values and what each experiment records, the method reference and its intended use as a research comparison, not a released QC method.
    1. Units and calculation keptDilute to 2 mg/mL in 10 mL, with the calculation retained.
    2. Structured, not free textEach parameter with its defined value and what the experiment records.
    3. Its intended useResearch comparison; not a released QC method.
  2. 2

    The experiment, linked.

    EXP-043 links its protocol and reagent lot, keeps the instrument file, and is compared with earlier runs.

    Experiment EXP-043, incubation comparison, in Seal: linked protocol PR-014 and reagent lot RG-018, the recorded incubation time, relative signal and source file, and a table comparing it with runs EXP-041 and EXP-042.
    1. Linked to protocol and lotPR-014 and reagent lot RG-018, as records.
    2. Values with their source file30 minutes and 0.76 relative signal, from EXP-043-reader.csv.
    3. Runs comparedSame incubation, different reagent lots; cause not yet established.
  3. 3

    Each result with its method and source.

    Release test S-041-12: every result carries its method version, instrument file and limit, and the batch it came from.

    Sample S-041-12, release testing, in Seal: linked to batch B-041 and a potency preparation, a table of results for potency, impurity A and water content with unit, limit, status, method and source, and water content outside its limit with the investigation open.
    1. The batch it came fromB-041, linked to the sample.
    2. Method and source on every rowEach result keeps its method version, instrument file and limit.
    3. The exception, at the resultWater content 0.72% against ≤ 0.50%, with the investigation open.

What Seal’s customers measured.

Each figure links to the customer’s story.

QualityAcclinate and Skye Biologics

−50%
quality cycle times at Acclinate, from a procedure change to everyone trained.Acclinate
−40%
non-conformances at Skye Biologics, with training checked before execution.Skye Biologics

RecordsMiAlgae and Bioventix

−75%
documentation time at MiAlgae, from the lab to commercial production.MiAlgae
−80%
document admin time at Bioventix, after two decades on paper.Bioventix

CDD Vault and Seal, side by side.

Every source is listed under References.

CDD VaultSeal
What it isDiscovery data platformThe GxP execution system: your eBR, your QMS and more
Built forDiscovery teams¹Process development, the lab, manufacturing, batch release and quality
Data modelThe registered entity and its assays²Primitives your team composes: record types, their relationships, steps and checks
AIMolecule design, docking, QSAR; a Claude connector³⁴Neil, Seal’s AI agent, prepares changes to the process; your team approves them
OwnerCollaborative Drug Discovery Inc.Opvia Ltd., trading as Seal
ScopeDiscovery chemistry and biologyELN, LIMS, batch records, QMS
ProtocolsAssay readouts and calculations²Methods with limits and review gates
Specifications and releaseNot on its product list⁵Results checked against versioned limits
Investigations and CAPANot on its product list⁵Linked to the sample, method and lot
Configuring itVault admins; some settings only by CDD Support⁶Neil prepares it from your procedures; your team approves
Getting started90-minute onboarding, CDD says¹A 48-hour evaluation of one process, once the scope is agreed and the inputs received

Summary

The story
CDD Vault is good for discovery data: chemical structures and the assays run on them. Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD) was established in 2004, when its founder was an entrepreneur in residence at Eli Lilly,⁷ and 22 years on it calls CDD Vault a system of record for preclinical drug discovery.⁴ Registration, activity, assays and visualisation are the core, with the notebook, inventory and AI as modules on top.⁵ CDD says teams gain proficiency after 90 minutes of guided onboarding,¹ yet a vault registers only chemical structures until CDD Support enables other types, and only CDD Support can reset its duplicate-structure rule.⁶ Its AI, a module rolled out in 2024,⁷ works on molecules and sequences: bioisostere suggestions, folding, docking and QSAR models;³ since July 2026 a Claude connector lets a chat register compounds and query assay data.⁴ If your work is registering compounds and comparing their assays, it can work well. A product that is developed, made and released needs its method, batches and quality system on the same records.

1What CDD Vault offers.

CDD Vault is fully hosted software that CDD says is designed to manage, analyse and share scientific data across discovery teams,¹ from Collaborative Drug Discovery, which spun out of Lilly in 2004 with UCSF as its first customer.⁷ Its core is registration, activity, assays and visualisation; the ELN, Inventory, Curves, AI and Automation modules are add-ons.⁵ It registers small molecules, antibodies, ADCs, nucleic acids, peptides, cell lines, reagents and mixtures with parent, batch and sample identifiers,⁸ support for biologics registration having arrived in 2022.⁷ Its Activity module defines assay protocols, parses instrument files, normalises results, fits dose-response curves, flags outliers and reviews plate statistics, and gathers entity, batch, calculated property and activity data into one table.² Its inventory module is sold as “LIMS software”, which CDD spells out as laboratory inventory management software.⁹ CDD’s own buyer’s guide says it supports large teams with “more standardized R&D workflows”, though it is “not a fit for the most complex, multi-departmental enterprises”.¹⁰

2Running Seal alongside CDD Vault.

Teams move their controlled work to Seal without waiting for discovery data to move. Seal has no dedicated CDD Vault connector. Where a system is not on Seal’s integrations list, Seal’s REST API reads and writes records from another system, and Scripts, versioned Python changed, tested and published like other Seal records, can call an external service after an event or on a schedule. CDD provides a documented, bidirectional REST API with OpenAPI documentation.¹¹

Start with read access, such as bringing a registered entity’s identifier and key discovery results into the Seal record for its first development batch. Treat any write-back to CDD Vault as a separate decision with defined actions, review gates and audit evidence. Agree identifiers and mappings, test missing, delayed and duplicate records, reconcile what arrives against the source, and record which system is the source of truth: typically CDD Vault for the registered structure and discovery data, Seal for batches, methods and results under GxP.

3Moving from CDD Vault to Seal.

Start with the first controlled process. Discovery data does not have to move.

  1. Choose the first controlled job: a release or stability test, a development method approaching transfer, or the first batch record for the candidate.
  2. Bring the approved method or procedure, its specification and a representative run with the files behind it. Start with sample material, or arrange an NDA before sharing confidential records.
  3. Neil configures the workflow from the method and specification, and your team checks it against the source. Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares the first working process and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration and your release requirements.
  4. Exercise a passing result, an outside-limit result, missing evidence and a changed limit before you approve release.
  5. Link the Seal batch to the CDD Vault entity by its registered identifier, and move discovery records only if a development decision needs them, keeping the source records in CDD Vault.

Retention obligations continue for the records that stay in CDD Vault. The LIMS blueprint and ELN blueprint show the method and experiment models in detail.

References

  1. 1CDD Vault: Collaborative Informatics Software for Research, Collaborative Drug Discovery. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/cdd-informatics-platform (read 5 November 2026)
  2. 2Activity, CDD Vault. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/activity (read 5 November 2026)
  3. 3AI Drug Discovery, CDD Vault. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/ai-drug-discovery (read 5 November 2026)
  4. 4CDD Vault Connector for Claude Desktop, Collaborative Drug Discovery, 8 July 2026. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/cdd-blog/cdd-vault-connector-for-claude-desktop (read 5 November 2026)
  5. 5CDD Vault Pricing, Collaborative Drug Discovery. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/pricing (read 5 November 2026)
  6. 6General Vault Settings, CDD Vault Help Center, updated 9 October 2026. https://support.collaborativedrug.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410168256276-General-Vault-Settings (read 5 November 2026)
  7. 7About Us, CDD Vault. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/about (read 5 November 2026)
  8. 8Chemical Registration System, CDD Vault. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/registration (read 5 November 2026)
  9. 9LIMS Software for Laboratory Inventory Management, CDD Vault. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/lab-inventory-management-software (read 5 November 2026)
  10. 10A Buyer’s Guide for Scientific Data Management Platforms, Collaborative Drug Discovery, 26 February 2025. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/cdd-blog/understanding-total-cost-of-ownership-in-biotech-saas-platforms (read 5 November 2026)
  11. 11Automation, CDD Vault. https://www.collaborativedrug.com/automation (read 5 November 2026)

AQuestions and answers

Is Seal better than CDD Vault?

Yes. CDD Vault is good for discovery data: chemical structures and the assays run on them. Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD) was established in 2004, when its founder was an entrepreneur in residence at Eli Lilly, and 22 years on it calls CDD Vault a system of record for preclinical drug discovery. Registration, activity, assays and visualisation are the core, with the notebook, inventory and AI as modules on top. CDD says teams gain proficiency after 90 minutes of guided onboarding, yet a vault registers only chemical structures until CDD Support enables other types, and only CDD Support can reset its duplicate-structure rule. Its AI, a module rolled out in 2024, works on molecules and sequences: bioisostere suggestions, folding, docking and QSAR models; since July 2026 a Claude connector lets a chat register compounds and query assay data. If your work is registering compounds and comparing their assays, it can work well. A product that is developed, made and released needs its method, batches and quality system on the same records. Seal has no fixed model of one kind of work. It is built from primitives: record types, the relationships between them, and the steps and checks that use them, which your own team composes into your process, with Neil able to prepare each change for approval. So one platform runs process development, the laboratory, manufacturing, batch release and the quality system, and each change becomes a new version, released once its selected tests pass, while earlier runs keep theirs. Moving from paper, MiAlgae cut documentation time by 75% and went from the laboratory to commercial production on one platform.

Is Seal an alternative to CDD Vault?

Yes. Seal is an ELN, LIMS, batch record system and QMS on one platform, so a candidate’s development methods, release and stability testing, batch records and quality events share one set of records. CDD Vault is designed for discovery registration and assay data. Teams starting Seal read registered identifiers from CDD Vault, so discovery data does not have to move.

Who makes CDD Vault?

Collaborative Drug Discovery Inc., established in 2004 by its founder and chief executive, Barry Bunin, as a spin-out from Eli Lilly. CDD Vault is offered as fully hosted software as a service.

How does CDD Vault’s AI compare with Neil?

CDD’s AI module, rolled out in 2024, works on molecules and sequences: similarity searches across public compound libraries, bioisostere suggestions, folding, docking and automated QSAR models. Since July 2026 an optional Claude connector lets a user query and change vault records in natural language through their own API key. Neil prepares changes to the process itself, the methods, calculations and workflows in Seal’s configuration, for your team to verify and approve. In line with the EU’s draft GMP Annex 22 on AI, Neil is not used in GMP execution.

Can Seal work alongside CDD Vault?

Yes, and that is how most teams start. Seal has no dedicated CDD Vault connector, but its REST API and Scripts can connect a system that is not on its integrations list, and CDD offers a documented bidirectional REST API. Registered structures and discovery data are read from CDD Vault, while batches, methods and GxP results run in Seal.

What is the difference between a CDD Vault protocol and a Seal method?

A CDD Vault protocol defines the readouts and calculations for an assay, so discovery results can be compared across compounds. A Seal method defines the preparation, suitability requirements, specification limits and investigation route for controlled testing, and each revision is released with its acceptance tests while earlier runs keep their version.

How long does it take to start with Seal?

Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares a first working process and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours, configured from one of your protocols or procedures. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration and your release requirements.

Start beside CDD Vault.

Start with one controlled process, such as a release test for the candidate’s first development batch. Seal reads registered identifiers through its REST API and Scripts, so discovery data does not have to move on day one.

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