FDA HARVESTS DATA USING IO INFORMATICS’
SENTIENT SOFTWARE, HELPING REDUCE NEED FOR DIRECT
ANIMAL TESTING
BERKELEY, CA - January 21,
2010
IO Informatics, Inc. announces an agreement to license
its Sentient Suite of Life Science & Healthcare
software to the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine.
“We are pleased to have the Sentient system
deployed at the FDA,” stated Robert Stanley,
President and CEO of IO Informatics. “Sentient is
a powerful data integration and knowledge building
suite that will make it possible for the FDA to conduct
reliable toxicity assessment in less time and for lower
cost, specifically by enabling them to move more
effectively from animal studies to cell cultures
– reducing the number of live animals required to
produce meaningful knowledge. Among the advantages they
have identified are the ease of implementing Sentient
to pull in data from a variety of sources and formats,
as well as its accessibility and ease of use for
researchers and managers. These capabilities will allow
them to quickly get a better handle on projects and
make it easier to achieve success in research.”
At the FDA, Sentient will allow researchers to
acquire, digest and access data from genomics (RNA,
µRNA), and proteomics (serum proteome: abundance &
activity) in multiple tissues (blood, liver, kidney).
In addition, through the use of the Sentient framework,
scientists will be able to conduct tissue analytics
from biopsies (liver, kidney) more efficiently and
accurately and will be provided with animal genotyping
for response correlation.
Dr. Erich Gombocz, Chief Science Officer at IO
Informatics, stated, “We are very happy to be
able to deploy our leading data integration tools in
such an important area of research, with major positive
consequences. By utilizing Sentient, the researchers at
FDA Vet will be able to minimize animal involvement in
toxicity assessment, by translating data and knowledge
initially from large animals like dogs to small ones
like mice, and ultimately from mice to tissue cultures.
Accessing their study data in biological context and
applying this knowledge will allow FDA researchers to
make optimal use of all their data, to effectively and
confidently make this transition and lead the
international trend towards reduced live animal
testing.”
Via the Sentient suite of software, researchers will
share and access experimental data from microarrays
(genomics), 2DE gels (proteomics), mass spectrometry,
microscopy (tissue images), pK assays (blood chemistry)
and combined genetic/phenotypic/visual animal
classification. The Sentient environment is used to
identify and qualify multi-modal,
cross-species-specific toxicity biomarkers. This
provides an intimate understanding of biological
systems and ‘connects the dots’ for
toxicity responses common to animal and tissue
cultures, despite the involvement of many incomparable
pathways. As a result, the Veterinary Center
researchers will be able to confidently determine
toxicity with easier to handle cell cultures, at a much
faster turnover (as the reproductive cycle is extremely
short; long-term effects can be studied effectively).
Using these methods, many different experimental
layouts can be pursued in parallel and at significantly
lower operating costs, due to the decrease in the live
animal facilities needed.
ABOUT IO INFORMATICS
IO is at the forefront of the semantic technology wave.
The Company provides software and services for uniquely
efficient data integration and transformative knowledge
applications in life sciences, biotechnology,
pharmaceutical, and medical environments.
For more information visit: www.io-informatics.com
CONTACT
Kashef Qaadri
Director of Sales
IO Informatics
510-705-8470
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