CLINICAL DATA AND IO INFORMATICS PARTNER FOR 2-YEAR PHASE OF
INFORMATICS GRANT
NEWTON, Mass. and EMERYVILLE, Calif., January 24, 2006 —-- Clinical Data, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDA) and IO Informatics, Inc. today announced an agreement to partner on the final phase of a five-year Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grant from the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST). The $11.7 million grant, initially awarded to Clinical Data, Inc. subsidiary Icoria, in 2002, is the largest ever ATP grant awarded in the area of bioinformatics. The grant’s aim is to create software tools and other technologies that can better support the discovery of novel targets, drugs and diagnostics using systems biology, or the analysis of biological systems as an integrated and interacting network of gene, proteins and biochemicals.
Systems biology treats gene function, protein expression, and biochemical processes as measurable components that can be engineered to accomplish specific therapeutic tasks. Assessing how these components influence each other to determine the response of a system, however, requires software that can discern and manage disparate data types. The ATP partnership will leverage IO Informatics’ revolutionary intelligent multidimensional object (IMO); a mobile, extensible database record that transforms specific pieces or even parts of data into objects that scientists can describe, utilize, share, and relate to across application and database boundaries. The IMO will be applied to data accumulated through Clinical Data’s proprietary Gene to Cell to System™ approach to pharmaceutical and life science discovery.
“Targeted therapeutics and personalized medicine require analytical tools that reduce the complexity of the high dimensional data sets and reveal important system level behaviors,” said Tom Colatsky, Chief Scientific Officer at Icoria. “We look forward to partnering with IO Informatics in our quest to create a new and improved generation of tools for target assessment and life sciences research.”
““The IMO has the potential to transform data management in the same way that PDFs have transformed file sharing,” says Patricia Rougeau, president and CEO of IO Informatics. “The IMO enables biologists to define how data relates and make semantic connections between everything from gene functions to therapeutic information obtained from clinical trials.”
Clinical Data has already successfully completed three technical milestones in this ATP grant. These consisted of the development, validation and analysis of two increasingly complex coherent data sets, and the production of prototype data coherence tools. The data sets were based on Clinical Data’s investigation of liver injury in rats induced by acetaminophen, a common pain reliever. This work also involved the discovery of biomarkers indicative of hepatotoxicity, also known as liver toxicity.
About IO Informatics
IO Informatics (www.io-informatics.com) is revolutionizing software methods by developing intelligent agents that enable a multidimensional approach to data integration. Through the proprietary IMO (intelligent multidimensional object) and Sentient, an interactive software environment, IO Informatics enables medical, pharmaceutical, and other life science researchers to structure and define data relationships, view these relationships, query them, and capitalize on them—all within a secure, compliant, auditable framework that helps organizations accumulate and capitalize on research knowledge. IO Informatics is located in Emeryville, California.
About Clinical Data, Inc.
Clinical Data, Inc. is a worldwide leader in providing molecular services and clinical diagnostics to improve patient care. Clinical Data’s molecular services division is among the largest independent providers of pharmacogenomics and metabolomics services globally and consolidates the operations of Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lark Technologies, Inc. and Icoria, Inc., each acquired during 2005. The division is utilizing pharmacogenomics to develop molecular diagnostics and more efficacious therapeutics by finding genetic markers to guide drug development and utilization. These services and products are marketed to the pharmaceutical, biotech, clinical, academic, government and agricultural marketplaces. Clinical Data’s Vital Diagnostics division consolidates the operations of Clinical Data Sales & Service, Inc., Vital Scientific NV, Vital Diagnostics Pty. Ltd., and Electa Lab s.r.l., which are each focused on the small volume clinical diagnostics market worldwide. Vital Diagnostics’ instrumentation business has a market focus on the physician's office, hospital and small-to-medium sized laboratory segments. With customers in approximately 100 countries, Vital Diagnostics has also achieved a leading market share for instruments and reagents sold into moderately complex physician’s office laboratories within the United States.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This press release contains certain forward-looking information and statements that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Words such as “expect(s)”, “feel(s)”, “believe(s)”, “will”, “may”, “anticipate(s)” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products, services, and scientific outcomes. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, the effect of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of the Company, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed and identified by Clinical Data in its public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; the effect on the Company’s operations and results of significant acquisitions or divestitures made by major competitors; and the Company’s ability to achieve expected synergies and operating efficiencies in all of its acquisitions, and to successfully integrate its operations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. Clinical Data does not undertake any obligation to republish revised forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in Clinical Data’s SEC reports including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, and fiscal 2005 and 2006 quarterly reports on Forms 10-QSB and 10-Q.
For IO Informatics, Contact:
Patricia A. Rougeau
President and CEO
1-510-420-8400
Internet Website: www.io-informatics.com
For Clinical Data, Contact:
Mark D. Shooman
Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
1-617-527-9933 Ext. 41
Internet Website: www.clda.com
Media Contact:
The Ruth Group
Jason Rando
1-646-536-7025
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