The advancement of smart drug development reaches far back in the drug development cycle, starting at the R&D phase and moving through the pipeline through to clinical studies. Data gathering and deep data analysis in the preclinical stages of development are growing increasingly crucial as the biopharmaceutical industry strategizes ways to better decrease costs while speeding up timelines to market. Here, a closer look at smart tools highlights how they support enhanced and intelligent data gathering as well as analysis in drug discovery and preclinical studies.