Brand-New and Best at Bio-IT World

The latest information technology to enhance the process of life sciences research and health care management was showcased at this weeks Bio-IT World Conference and Expo in Boston. A number of new products were introduced on the tradeshow floor and Bio-IT World also honored a handful of the most innovative and useful information technologies that were rolled out over the last year with a “Best of Show” award.

Among the new products that made their debut at the conference were tools specifically designed to aid scientists in the research process, sophisticated databases that lend themselves to the complexities of life science research, and more systems designed to enhance access to information.

Three companies launched drug discovery research products:

BioDiscovery Inc. released GeneDirector 2.6, the latest version of its enterprise microarray data management platform.

Paracel introduced version 2.0 of Agent, software that uses algorithms to track the trace file datasets resulting from genotyping and mutation discovery research processes with enhanced accuracy.

MiraiBio came out with Dnasis Max Version 2.5 Sequence Analysis Software, an enhanced desktop bioinformatics tool.

For database software, Lion Bioscience Inc. introduced its new SRS Gateway that was developed jointly with Oracle. It provides the data integration capabilities of the SRS platform in the Oracle SQL environment. The SRS Gateway gives Oracle users access to more than 950 public data banks in SRS. Also, Automsoft brought out Rapid 3.0, the latest version of the companys advanced database software that collects, stores and reports on data sourced from multiple batch execution systems.

Beyond the most complex research data, several types of software were also introduced that enhance the manipulation of other types of information:

First Consulting Group rolled out a new content management tool for clinical trial documentation allowing clinical managers to make real-time decisions about trials.

Emmes Corp. unveiled a Web-based specimen inventory and shipping system, GlobalTrace, that tracks study materials in real time.

Vivisimo Inc. introduced an information retrieval tool, ClusterMed, which enhances categorization and search activities in PubMed, the U.S. governments MedLine database.

In addition to the new launches, several new products that were launched over the last year were selected for honors from among 44 candidates. Prism EDC & Inventory Management from Nextrials Inc. was chosen in the clinical trials and research category.

As for information technology infrastructure, Bio-IT World editors and industry analysts chose the Apple Computer Inc.s Workgroup Cluster for Bioinformatics as the most promising new entrant. Waters Corporations eLab Notebook software earned praise for enabling knowledge management and collaboration, while Ascenta System from Gene Logic Inc. took top honors among new informatics tools.