April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- GeneProt(TM) Inc., today announced the opening of the world's first large-scale proteomic discovery center in Geneva, Switzerland. The facility will enable GeneProt to become a world leader in proteomics, contributing to the discovery of new drugs and biomarkers based on the body's own proteins.
The new center, which is managed by a world-class team of proteomic and bioinformatic pioneers, will run 20 hours a day and will use the supercomputing capabilities of Compaq Computer Corporation's AlphaServer systems, Tru64 UNIX software and StorageWorks systems to capture, store and analyze the huge volumes of data generated by GeneProt's proteome analyses.
The facility is designed to identify and select for clinical study large numbers of previously unidentified proteins that are potential drugs, targets for drug development or markers that can be used to diagnose or prevent diseases.
``The emerging field of proteomics promises to open a window onto the intimate details of the roles proteins play in several diseases,'' says Cedric Loiret-Bernal, M.D., chief executive officer of GeneProt. ``What makes GeneProt unique among the companies seeking to commercialize proteins is the industrial-sized scale in which we work; our leading team of proteomics research scientists; our initial focus on small, naturally occurring proteins that are most likely to be commercially viable candidates for novel therapeutics; and our use of chemical synthesis techniques instead of recombinant technology.''
``Some companies just entering the proteomics industry say they'll be able to provide candidates for clinical testing within a few years. We believe we will deliver potential therapeutic agents within six months,'' says Denis Hochstrasser, M.D., chairman of GeneProt's Scientific Advisory Board, co-founder of the company and member of the Board of Directors.
GeneProt plans to obtain the total protein profile of healthy and diseased fluids or tissues by studying the development of an organism, maturation of cell types and tissues and progression of diseases as they vary over time. The results will be used to fast-track target identification in order to speed development of new products by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
The Geneva facility has 51 of the most advanced mass spectrometers running around the clock searching for proteins that could become tomorrow's blockbuster agents, Dr. Hochstrasser notes. ``The speed at which we work, and the depth to which we analyze naturally occurring proteins in health and disease, should shorten the drug discovery lifecycle and significantly reduce the time it takes to get a final product to market,'' added Dr. Hochstrasser.
Backed by an equity investment from Compaq, GeneProt is using enterprise-class Compaq products such as its industry-leading AlphaServer systems, the technology that helped map the first draft of the human genome, along with Compaq's Tru64 UNIX operating system. GeneProt chose Compaq's StorageWorks system to accommodate the immense storage and retrieval challenges posed by the company's ambitious proteomics undertaking.
The supercomputing technology includes 1,420 Compaq Alpha-based, Tru64 UNIX computer processors, each of which is capable of performing more than a billion sequence comparisons per hour, while offering increased sensitivity and performance in sequence similarity analysis.
``GeneProt selected Compaq as its preferred IT supplier because of Compaq's leadership in supplying high performance enterprise IT systems and services to the genomics market,'' says Dr. Loiret-Bernal. Compaq technology provides GeneProt with storage, hardware and maintenance support in a server facility separate from the Geneva plant, according to Dr. Loiret-Bernal. ``A key element to our being able to open our facility so quickly was the ability of Compaq to install the server facility according to our very demanding installation time schedule,'' he adds.
Compaq's equity investment in GeneProt is managed as part of Compaq's US$100 million Genomics Investment Program unveiled last September. The program is designed to promote the development of life sciences companies through financial support and access to its high-performance AlphaServer systems, Tru64 UNIX and StorageWorks storage systems for use in genomics, proteomics and other related research activities.
Bill Blake, Compaq's Vice President of High Performance Technical Computing, says, ``Compaq's equity investment in GeneProt underscores our commitment to support new life science ventures in the high performance technical computing market. Compaq has become the global leader in the life sciences market with 37 percent market share in 2000, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), and we're excited to collaborate with leaders like GeneProt in helping them apply information technology to meet the life sciences challenges they face.''
About GeneProt(TM)
GeneProt(TM) brings together the leading experts in proteomics and bioinformatics to accelerate therapeutic drug discovery and improve its quality. In April 2001, GeneProt opened the world's first large-scale proteomic discovery and production facility in Geneva, Switzerland. Equipped with 51 state-of-the-art mass spectrometers and some of the most advanced bioinformatic and computing data-storage technologies, GeneProt will identify and, when appropriate, synthesize commercially viable novel therapeutics proteins, drug targets and biomarkers. GeneProt will significantly shorten the time required for the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents.
GeneProt's partners include leading pharmaceutical and technology companies and academic and scientific institutions such as Novartis, Compaq, Bruker Daltonics and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics. The company will pursue additional partnerships with organizations that can bring value to GeneProt's unique offerings in proteomics discovery and production. These partnerships represent significant revenue sources for both the short and the long term. For more information, please visit geneprot.com . |
