UCB Selects Genedata to Manage Drug Target Information

Genedata, the Swiss-based computational solutions provider, announces a major research informatics solution deal with the global biopharmaceutical company UCB. UCB researchers in the UK and Belgium use the Genedata Phylosopher^® platform combined with Genedata’s Expressionist^® platform to support their drug discovery efforts in the fields of central nervous system disorders, allergy/respiratory diseases, immune and inflammatory disorders and oncology.

In a move reflecting UCB’s innovation-driven approach to drug discovery, the company has deployed both Phylosopher and Expressionist in combination. Expressionist has been chosen by UCB to gain maximum value from their microarray data, which, when used with Phylosopher, enables UCB scientists to gain even deeper and more valuable insights into the biology of the systems being explored. Integration of analysed data with biological pathways is an important aspect of the capabilities UCB requires, and this integration is enabled by Genedata’s solution.

Phylosopher is an easy to implement proven biological research information platform which provides access to vast corporate and public data inventories. It provides scientists with a powerful range of integrated analysis tools saving time, improving research synergies and efficiency within the organisation. Phylosopher provides an open, stable, and supported system, which can be developed and adapted further to meet UCB’s growing needs.

Phylosopher adheres to industry-standard database and client-server technologies. These technologies enhance interoperability with UCB’s existing informatics infrastructure, including resources developed in-house. Dr. Phil Scordis, UCB Senior Group Leader, Informatics explained “Industry standards simplify the task of integrating the platform with our existing bioinformatics resources. Phylosopher will enable us to integrate proprietary data with relevant information from the public domain, and aid the interpretation of our experimental data”.

Expressionist is a modular enterprise system for biomarker discovery. It represents a single-point-of-access for experimental, proprietary and public data, including sample information, raw and pre-processed data, and analysis results with reports and documentation. Supported by powerful and intuitive workflows, computational biologists and bench scientists can address complex questions, share their expertise and create new corporate knowledge from transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and clinical data. Once identified, the markers are analyzed in their biological context and validated with targeted experiments that enable compound profiling of promising therapeutic candidates.

“We are pleased to work with such a distinguished partner in the biopharmaceutical sector”, said Dr. Othmar Pfannes, CEO of Genedata. “The company values partners that are committed to growth on a foundation of innovation and scientific excellence. This gives Genedata an opportunity to help companies gain the best advantage from computational approaches to drug discovery”.