Molecular Dynamics Joins Spotfire Network
Spotfire, Inc., a leading provider of software solutions for research and development decision support, has announced an agreement with Molecular Dynamics, Inc., part of Amersham Pharmacia Biotech. Under the terms of the agreement, Molecular Dynamics, a leading provider of systems that accelerate genetic discovery and analysis, will offer Spotfire Pro visual discovery software in conjunction with its pre-commercial Microarray Technology Access Programs (MTAP) and its commercial microarray systems.
The combined offering will provide researchers and scientists with a complete system for filtering and analyzing data generated by genetic research, as well as integrating the data from drug discovery databases.
Spotfire Pro, used as a Windows-based bioinformatics application, helps life sciences researchers query disparate scientific and drug discovery databases, access the output of lab instrumentation systems and visually analyze the combined results. This enables researchers to concentrate their efforts on the most promising targets.
Molecular Dynamics' microarrays consist of thousands of DNA samples deposited in small spots on the surface of a slide or other substrate. Data from a single microarray experiment allows researchers to quickly and accurately measure gene expression levels in thousands of samples.
Molecular Dynamics' MTAP was created to give selected companies and institutions preferential access to pre-commercial microarray technology. To date, the program has a membership of over 29 biotechnology, pharmaceutical and genomics research organizations worldwide.
Steve Nelson, Software Product Manager at Molecular Dynamics, said: "Spotfire Pro's innovative visual representation will provide Molecular Dynamics' customers with a valuable complement to our microarray technology, enabling end-users to efficiently filter and analyze tens of thousands of multi-dimensional datapoints. Together, the technologies will provide scientists and researchers with an integrated package, enabling them to manage the substantial data generated in genetic research. We also plan to use Spotfire Pro in applications beyond MTAP in the future."
Luis Barros, Business Development Manager at Spotfire, commented: "The agreement with Molecular Dynamics enables us to provide researchers with a complete decision support solution for use with Molecular Dynamics' popular microarray technology. Spotfire Network is dedicated to creating a broad range of strategic alliances with leading life science organizations whose products and services help researchers realize the full value of their Spotfire solution. Partners like Molecular Dynamics and other leading commercial organizations, universities and research institutions create a coordinated network of partners whose combined product and service offerings contribute to a total Spotfire solution."
Amersham Pharmacia Biotech is a major international biotechniques company; it provides innovative and leading-edge technology solutions to the problems faced by researchers and engineers aiming to discover and produce new drugs and therapies, faster and more cost-effectively than ever before. One of the leaders in virtually all of its markets, the company's novel systems are used to sequence DNA, uncover the function of genes and proteins, separate biomolecules, screen potential drugs and manufacture biopharmaceuticals.
Spotfire, Inc. is a premier supplier of research and development decision support solutions to the life and material sciences industries. Spotfire Pro is uniquely able to graphically display large amounts of disparate data generated by drug discovery applications. Additional Spotfire software enables scientists and alliance collaborators to communicate via the Web and empowers them to make sound decisions about the direction of future research. Spotfire currently supports high-performance drug discovery at 24 of the top 25 pharmaceutical companies. The company maintains European headquarters in Goteborg, Sweden, and U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.