Company Announcements

Pine Biotech announced in June that it raised over $1 million in seed funding for its development of a platform for the comprehensive analysis of large genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, structural and phenotyic data using an intuitive interface. The platform is being commercialized in partnership with Tauber Bioinformatics Research Center and the University of Haifa.

Geneious Biologics announced in July the opening of an office in Denmark.

In July, Schrödinger announced a multiyear, multitarget research collaboration with Takeda. The company will use its in silico platform–driven drug discovery capabilities, supported by Takeda’s protein crystal structures, to guide the development of new chemical entities. Schrödinger will be responsible for the discovery costs, with Takeda having the exclusive option to license the programs later in discovery.

Schrödinger also announced in July a research collaboration with Professor Jeffrey Wiggins of the University of Southern Mississippi to advance the development and design of polymer and high-performance materials using its Materials Science Suite.

In August, DNASTAR appointed newly formed SHIPS Bioscience as a distributor for Japan.

Bioinformatics provider SoftGenetics acquired Mitotyping Technologies in August from Health Network Laboratories for an undisclosed amount. Mitotyping Technologies provides services for the forensic and anthropological analysis of mtDNA. SoftGenetics CFO Nina Fosnacht will also serve as the new COO of Mitotyping Technologies. SoftGenetics provides software for STR and mtDNA analysis, including NGS data.

ELN provider Iabfolder announced in August the establishment of an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product Introductions

IDBS released in June the E-WorkBook Request, a work requesting and orchestration tool, available as a module for its E-Workbook Cloud. It can be deployed and set up within one week and works with pre-existing LIMS.

In June, DNAnexus launched the MOSAIC Microbiome Platform in collaboration with Janssen Research & Development and its Janssen Human Microbiome Institute. The cloud-based platform enables collaboration and data sharing, as well as customized workflows.

DILIsym Services, a Simulations Plus company, introduced in August the DILIsym 6A for liver safety modeling. New features include additional simulated population capabilities focused on biomarker variability, and new validation compounds.

In August, Simulations Plus released the MembranePlus 2 in vitro data analysis program. Enhancements include new mechanistic models for in vitro hepatocyte assays.

In August, Certara debuted D360 Partner, which adds externalization technology to its D360 scientific informatics platform to facilitate collaboration with external partners.

PerkinElmer unveiled in August its ChemDraw 17 chemical drawing software. New features include the Pistoia Alliance’s Hierarchical Editing Language for Macromolecules (HELM) and enhanced hotkeys.

In August, Sunquest Information Systems launched the cloud-based Sunquest Mitogen LIMS and genetic analysis software suite for molecular diagnostics and precision medicine. It supports a wide range of molecular testing requirements.

Sales/Orders of Note

In July, Genedata announced an expanded partnership with enzyme manufacturer AB Enzymes to include its Genedata Selector platform for decision support on production strain optimization and strain compliance assessment processes. The companies have worked together since 2013.

Genedata announced in July that Merck has implemented Genedata Biologics to scale-up its biospecific antibody discovery programs. Merck is expanding the use of the software beyond its central biologics workflow.

Cheminformatics firm Optibrium signed a two-year licnse agreement with Bugworks Research in July for its StarDrop software.

In August, OpenEye announced an agreement with Pfizer’s Medicinal Services division to provide its Orion cloud platform for computational chemistry.