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DJ Compaq's Rosen Says Biotech Needs More People, Software
By PAULA L. STEPANKOWSKY
Dow Jones Newswires
SEATTLE -- The convergence of biology and computing is making scientific research faster, but there is a shortage of people and software needed to keep up with the pace, said Ben Rosen, chairman of Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) at the Bio '99 conference here Tuesday.
Rosen replaced former Compaq CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer on the program after Compaq's board dismissed Pfeiffer last month. Rosen declined press interviews following his prepared remarks given at a meeting that has drawn more than 5000 people from around the world.
But Rosen follows the biotech industry closely and said that the frontiers of biology and computing are converging in ways that are revolutionizing biological research, genetics, drug discovery and medicine.
"Today, it is increasingly difficult to separate the advances in biotechnology from advances in high-performance computing," Rosen said. "In fact, some leading scientists believe that high-end computing is the future of biology and medicine."
Rosen said as scientists look increasingly toward genetic solutions to the treatment and cure of disease, more computing power is needed to sequence the entire human genome and provide answers to these biological questions.
"Biology is becoming an information science," he said. "It will take increasingly powerful computers and software to gather, store, analyze, model and distribute that information."
The biggest challenge for biotechnology, Rosen said, will be to turn that information into knowledge that will help scientists understand how genes work and enable the development of new and more effective drugs.
Sees Internet As Growing Force In Biotech
Rosen said that the biotech industry is hampered by the fact that there is a severe shortage of biological scientists with strong computing skills. While there are specialists in each field, there aren't many knowledgeable in both fields.
"One scientist told me that biologists with a strong knowledge of computing now command salaries two to three times what they can make strictly as a biologist," Rosen said. "That's a clear indication that the demand far outstrips the supply."
He also said most software available for use by the biotech industry comes from academic sources and isn't specifically tailored for the "bioinformatics" industry.
"The challenge is to find a viable business model for companies that are basically taking academic software and passing it through to the commercial world," Rosen said.
While the software industry may be lagging behind, Rosen said the Internet is assuming increasing importance in biotech research. The Internet, working with specially designed search software, makes it possible for scientists to access daily updates from the Human Genome Project, a project launched in 1990 to sequence all human genes, and other sources.
"This brings an immediacy to science that wasn't there before," Rosen said.
Speaking to an audience that grouses openly about how Internet companies have diverted investment away from biotech, Rosen said companies disregard the Internet at their peril.
"The fact remains that any business - from a bookseller to a biotech company - that is not factoring the Internet into its plans will quickly find itself at a competitive disadvantage," Rosen said. "The Internet is not just changing business - it's changing science and the ways that we disseminate scientific knowledge."
Compaq To Support Growing Biotech Needs
Rosen said Compaq has realized the need for more support from the computer industry for the biotech industry.
He said the company recently hired Dr. Nathan Goodman to establish a bioinformatics solution center in Massachusetts for the company. He said the company's 64-bit Alpha microprocessor is being used by a number of companies to speed up their research.
One of them is Celera Genomics, run by well-known biologist Dr. J. Craig Venter, who most recently was director of the Institute for Genomic Research. Celera plans to decode the entire human genome by the end of 2001 and has connected 1,200 Alpha processors to help in the work.
Celera plans to make the information it gathers available to subscribers using the Internet and other electronic commerce technology, Rosen said.
"Celera believes its customer base will expand from agriculture, pharmaceutical and biotech companies initially to academics, physicians and individuals," Rosen said.
- Paula L. Stepankowsky; 360-636-2008
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