HANOVER, Md., Feb. 6, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- NovaScreen Biosciences Corporation ("NovaScreen" or the "Company") and ID Business Solutions, Ltd. ("IDBS"), announced today that they have entered into a multiyear agreement covering access by NovaScreen to IDBS' ActivityBase(tm) software environment; co-development and optimization of new applications software modules; and co-promotion of software and services for drug discovery and development. IDBS, headquartered in Guildford, U.K., is a leading provider of discovery software solutions for the life sciences. ActivityBase, an Oracle- and Windows NT-based data management environment developed by IDBS, has become a dominant applications software for discovery screening in the pharmaceutical industry.
NovaScreen is a worldwide leader in breadth of drug discovery and development screening services and a pioneer in the emerging field of pharmacoinformatics. Under the collaboration with IDBS, NovaScreen will integrate the ActivityBase 4.1 platform into its screening operations, enhancing the data reporting capabilities provided by NovaScreen to its screening services clients. This will help accelerate the expansion and industry standardization of its initial content database and pharmacoinformatics tool, the Receptor Selectivity Mapping Database ("RSMDB"(tm)).
Pharmacoinformatics is the integration of bioinformatics and chemoinformatics to derive patterns of molecular recognition and enable in-silico (or computer-based virtual) screening. NovaScreen's RSMDB provides scientists with an innovative means of translating the interaction of drug-like chemicals, molecular targets such as receptors, enzymes and biological activities into a predictive drug discovery and development tool. Glaxo Wellcome became the first corporate collaborator to access the RSMDB during 2000. The ActivityBase software environment allows scientists to capture, analyze and make decisions upon the full range of chemical and biological data in drug discovery. By integrating large amounts of data from across the discovery cycle -- such as that data comprising the RSMDB -- ActivityBase can help scientists streamline and accelerate the drug discovery process.
The collaboration further involves testing and optimization of iDiscover, a new Web-based data reporting tool being developed by IDBS, and chemistry modules that integrate with the biological data management features of ActivityBase. NovaScreen will contribute its expertise in Web applications development and in chemoinformatics and natural product chemistry to this collaboration.
By adopting the ActivityBase data management environment, NovaScreen's clients and subscribers to the RSMDB will be able to more rapidly access and manipulate screening data, as well as interpret data from a wide range of drug discovery activities such as high-throughput screening, IC50 determinations and lead optimization. NovaScreen's clients include two-thirds of the world's top drug companies as well as numerous leading biotechnology companies, many of which use the ActivityBase platform.
"This agreement with IDBS is part of our strategy to team up with industry leaders to enhance delivery of large, complex datasets, such as the RSMDB, to our clients and collaborators," noted David Manyak, President and CEO of NovaScreen. "These capabilities will further enable implementation of in-silico screening strategies and the development of predictive algorithms for drug discovery and development based on the RSMDB pharmacoinformatics platform. The iDiscover program in particular should lead to large-scale, secure, Web-based electronic delivery of data on a real-time basis to NovaScreen clients and RSMDB subscribers."
Confirming this view, Neil Kipling, the Chairman and CEO of IDBS, commented, "The adoption of ActivityBase by one of the leading screening companies, NovaScreen, further confirms the value of ActivityBase for managing and reporting complex biological and chemical data. Combining NovaScreen's RSMDB database with the capabilities of ActivityBase and new applications included in this collaboration should result in a powerful set of tools for accelerating drug discovery and development for NovaScreen's clients."
About NovaScreen:
NovaScreen Biosciences Corporation (www.novascreen.com), a leading biotechnology firm, provides drug discovery and development services worldwide based on molecular screening technologies. Established in 1986, NovaScreen, recognized for innovation in the field of receptor pharmacology, has more recently developed the RSMDB, a broad content database and pharmacoinformatics tool. When employed with NovaScreen's data mining tools, a client can determine patterns of chemical/receptor interactions that are correlated with specific biological and drug activities, and clinical outcomes. RSMDB provides powerful statistical predictability to the drug discovery process which enhances the efficiency of drug development efforts.
In addition to its core technology in receptor and enzyme assays, NovaScreen provides cellular and molecular biology services to clients in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and related industries worldwide. The Company also maintains a library of unique marine-derived compounds and other natural products that it employs to develop pharmaceutical and industrial products.
Currently, NovaScreen counts as its clients two thirds of the world's leading drug companies and more than 150 clients in total worldwide.
About IDBS:
IDBS provides software solutions to leading companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agrochemical industries worldwide. IDBS' major product, ActivityBase, is a comprehensive data management, analysis and decision support environment utilizing Oracle and the Microsoft(r) Office suite. By fully integrating biological and chemical data, ActivityBase can manage data and discovery workflow across the entire organization, or at project level.
The capabilities of ActivityBase include the management of High- and Ultra-High Throughput Screening programs, chemistry management, natural products registration, pharmacology, genotyping, inventory, multiple IC50 determinations, lead optimization and complex experimental protocols.
IDBS is a privately owned company, headquartered in Guildford in the UK with offices in Emeryville, California and Parsippany, New Jersey. In Japan, CTC Laboratory Systems represent IDBS.