IDBS Expands Customer Base in Canada
LabAutomation Conference and Exhibition, San Jose, California — February 02, 2004 — ID Business Solutions (IDBS), leading provider of integrated data management, analysis and decision-making software for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agrochemical industries, today announced several new customers for its ActivityBase software suite in Canada, including Micrologix Biotech, Xenon Genetics, McMaster University and McGill University. Neil Kipling, Chairman and CEO of IDBS commented: “A solid foundation to capture and integrate data is essential for efficient discovery operations, as well as facilitating data sharing and good communication with collaborators.” He continued: “We are pleased to be working with such pre-eminent organisations in Canada, supporting them with extensible informatics applications.”
Customer Applications
Micrologix Biotech Inc. (http://www.mbiotech.com), based in Vancouver, is engaged in the research, development and commercialisation of anti-infective drugs. Since using ActivityBase, Micrologix has generated efficiencies through increasingly automated chemical registration and biological data capture. The users have also found ActivityBase’s integration with Excel to be very convenient and have benefited from its advanced data verification capabilities. “IDBS has a well-founded reputation for customer support, product development and integrity,” commented Dale R. Cameron, PhD, Chemistry Group Leader at Micrologix. “ActivityBase enables Micrologix scientists to add value to our anti-infective projects allowing us to rapidly advance candidates to the clinic, helping us fulfill our commitment to advancing therapy, improving health and enriching lives.”
Xenon Genetics Inc. (http://www.xenongenetics.com), Vancouver, is a clinical genetics-based drug discovery and development company. Xenon’s drug discovery programmes target metabolic, neurological and cardiovascular disease. All Xenon’s biological and chemical data, from HTS to in vivo, is stored and integrated in ActivityBase, creating a valuable central resource. Gary Donaldson, Informatics Manager at Xenon describes ActivityBase as Xenon’s “software engine for drug discovery.” He commented, “One of the key benefits is that once data is captured we have the ability to access it in various ways depending on the needs of our users. For example SARgen is best for complex queries, which is ideally suited to scientists close to the data in the labs. Alternatively there’s DiscoveryChannel for our high-level users.” He continued, “In addition, the level of support from the IDBS Help Desk has been very good.”
The main research objective of the team at McMaster University’s HTS lab (http://hts.mcmaster.ca/) is to address the inadequacies of conventional antibiotics with research into new bacterial targets and small molecule therapeutics. Their work includes identifying and characterising targets relevant to antimicrobial action, including the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance enzymes. In addition, the lab undertakes work for members of the University, collaborates with other research institutions and provides contract-screening services to industry. ActivityBase has been in use at McMaster since 2001. Jonathan Cechetto, Manager of the HTS lab commented: “We’ve been screening with ActivityBase almost non-stop since it was installed and it has been incredibly reliable. We now have over nine million data points and ActivityBase still runs as fast as when new.” He added: “We originally chose ActivityBase because we are a small lab without specialist IT skills and needed an off the shelf system. It has done just what we wanted and has proved very easy to use.”
The Biochemistry department of McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, (http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/biochem/htsfacility) uses ActivityBase to support its ultra high throughput screening programme. “We’ve certainly found it easier to search for compounds and enter data since we’ve been using ActivityBase, as the software automatically ensures that data is correctly associated with compounds and plates,” said Olivia Novac, HTS facility manager, at McGill. “ActivityBase is a mature product and is well supported. IDBS’ California Help Desk is great – they have all the answers!”
About IDBS
IDBS works with discovery organisations to maximise the value of research data, by providing software solutions to capture, manage and use biological and chemical information in an integrated framework. Unlike resource-intensive tool-based solutions, IDBS delivers complete — and proven — applications that bridge the gap between IT and science. Headquartered in Guildford, United Kingdom, IDBS has offices in Emeryville, California; Parsippany, New Jersey; and, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1989, IDBS employs over 150 people worldwide.
About ActivityBase
ActivityBase from IDBS is an integrated data management software application used by nine of the ten largest pharmaceutical companies and many leading biotechnology firms. The software incorporates high-throughput and high-content screening, high throughput multiple IC50 determinations, lead optimisation, pharmacology, ADME, toxicology and DMPK studies, quantitative expression data handling and inventory, combined with the ability to register, manage and display chemical structures and reactions. Through the implementation of ActivityBase, scientists can easily define and run experiments, capture, visualise and analyse the information obtained and then share the data throughout the company and with collaborators to help streamline the discovery research process.
For further information, please contact:
Beth Thomas, Marketing Communications Manager
IDBS, 2 Occam Court, Surrey Research Park
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7QB, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 595010
Fax: +44 (0) 1483 595001
Email: bthomas@id-bs.com
