CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and HEIDELBERG, Germany, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genomics Collaborative, Inc. (GCI), a clinical genomics-based discovery company, and LION bioscience (Neuer Markt: LIO, WKN 504 350, Nasdaq: LEON), a leading supplier of IT solutions for the life science industry today announced the creation of GCI Clinical(TM), a comprehensive database of demographic, epidemiological, and medical information that complements GCI's Global Repository(TM), a database consisting of over 115,000 human DNA, serum, and tissue samples from patients worldwide.
GCI Clinical(TM) provides real-time integration of clinical, genotypic, RNA expression and proteomic expression data such that GCI and its customers will be able to more rapidly identify and better understand drug targets and pathways that were previously inaccessible. The database combines access to pathology reports, histological information, diagnostic reports, specimen quality control data, detailed clinical information, public domain databases, and genotypic, expression, and eventually proteomic data for each collected sample.
"GCI Clinical(TM) is the most advanced system for integrating the information that drug developers require for critical decisions on target discovery and validation," said Dr. Michael J. Pellini, Chief Executive Officer of GCI. "Our goal is to make GCI the definitive source for data on genomics-based drug targets for our customers and partners, as well as our own internal use."
"LION is delighted to provide GCI with the integration power it needs to deliver its rich research data quickly and accurately to drug developers," said Rudy Potenzone, Ph.D., President and CEO of LION bioscience, Inc. "With our SRS technology, scientists can retrieve diverse, comprehensive data in seconds rather than days, regardless of the data format or source. This helps speed the discovery process, one of the industry's most urgent needs."
GCI Clinical(TM) allows researchers to select DNA, RNA, tissue, and serum from a cohort of patients with a specific phenotype from GCI's Global Repository(TM). Each query can then be linked to information on a particular sample's availability, storage, location, concentration, and condition. Further, GCI Clinical(TM) offers query tools to enable scientists to link the physical specimens along with accompanying clinical and all experimental data to the growing wealth of public and proprietary data on the specific disease state and biological pathways of interest
To improve the efficiency of its high throughput genotyping pipeline, GCI has also used LION's SRS technology to merge the human genome sequence and publicly available single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) databases into its GCI Clinical(TM) system. This integration has enabled GCI to automate in silico QC analyses for each of the 2.7 million SNPs in the public databases. Armed with this knowledge, GCI's researchers can ensure vastly improved SNP selection from any region of the genome, drastically enhancing both genotyping accuracy and throughput.
New data generated from ongoing studies at GCI and its collaborators on the samples is continually added to the database to enrich the information available. The results of these studies are integrated from a variety of platforms back into the single searchable GCI Clinical(TM) database.
About Genomics Collaborative
Genomics Collaborative, Inc. ("GCI") is a functional genomics company focused on developing high value, intellectual property on its own account and in collaboration with bio-pharmaceutical companies and academic medical centers. To accelerate the efforts of researchers within the bio-pharmaceutical industry, GCI has built the Global Repository®, the largest known collection of appropriately consented clinical research material, including human DNA, RNA, sera, and snap-frozen tissue samples linked to detailed medical information collected from patient populations worldwide. The Company has enrolled over 115,000 patients in Global Repository®.
GCI customers include Wyeth Corp., Celera, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, and Pharmacia Corp. GCI also offers commercial DNA and tissue banking services for collecting, processing and storage of biomaterials for industry, academia and governmental agencies. The Company's web address is genomicsinc.com. |
