June 10, 2008 | The 2008 Best of Show competition broke all previous records with 32 new products competing in four categories. The excellent entries spanned electronic notebooks, servers, eClinical technologies, and life science applications. Peruse all the entries to see if you agree with our esteemed judges. -- A.P.
BEST OF SHOW: eClinical
Electronically Linking Disparate Systems
Medidata Designer, an automated clinical protocol authoring tool, was originally designed to provide electronic guidance and management for protocol design, facilitating trial design quality and consistency. Version 2.4 broadened the tool significantly to become the initial step in electronically linking disparate clinical systems by capturing trial elements as complex structured data specifications that could drive setup of downstream eClinicial trial systems. As the first and only CDISC ODM-certified application for protocol authoring, Version 2.4 creates "extensible" clinical documents whose content is captured and structured as an XML data model that can be reused and interpreted by systems such as EDC, data analysis, and submission systems. Designer has been featured as the front-end technology that initiates downstream propagation of study metadata to create a consistent structure for the entire eClinical trial.
Product: Medidata Designer
Company: Medidata
Available: Now
For More Information: www.mdsol.com
Collaborative Controlled Programming
Waban Statistical Computing Environment (Waban SCE) is a modular system based on Waban Software's proprietary metadata driven clinical data repository (Waban CDR). Waban CDR/SCE provides a controlled and integrated Clinical Data Repository /Statistical Computing Environment that facilitates data management, statistical programming, analyses, and reporting in compliance with 21 CFR Part 11 regulatory guidelines. The system provides a common platform that supports CDISC standards such as SDTM and ADaM and supports creating submission-ready Define.xml or Define.pdf for inclusion in an eCTD electronic submission.
Product: Statistical Computing Environment
Company: Waban Software
Available: Now
For More Information: www.wabansoftware.com
Semantic Architecture for Visualization
CoMotion Trials is visual decision support software that allows dynamic collaborative visualization of integrated clinical trial data. This highly configurable application combines business intelligence with state-of-the-art visualization capabilities. Data from flat files, databases, and data warehouses are mapped via XML into a unique data repository whose architecture is designed for on-demand, low-bandwidth access and real-time collaboration. A semantic information architecture ties metadata concepts together, allowing previously unrelated concepts to be linked and combined in visualizations.
Product: CoMotion Trials
Company: Viz General Dynamics C4 Systems
Available: Now
For More Information: www.gdviz.com
DataTrak's eClinical 5.0 utilizes three-tier distributed client/server architecture. Partitioning the application enables rapid design and development of the system. Multi-tier architecture also makes it simpler to scale the system across multiple processors on different machines, ensuring numerous users can access the system without affecting performance.
More Information: www.datatrak.net
The InforSense Translational Research Solution (TRS) provides a powerful and flexible framework to integrate and analyze clinical, patient specimen, and experimental data for translational research. The solution enables different user groups to integrate data and construct analysis workflows that can then be deployed to a wider scientific audience.
More Information: www.inforsense.com/solutions/translational_research
Phase Forward's Central Designer is a stand-alone study design environment that helps life sciences companies streamline the trial design process and reduce the time it takes to deploy a study to electronic data capture (EDC).
More Information: www.phaseforward.com
BEST OF SHOW: IT Infrastructure
Pay-As-You-Grow Storage
By combining Isilon's OneFS operating system software with the latest advances in industry-standard hardware, Isilon delivers modular, pay-as-you-grow, enterprise-class clustered storage systems that deliver unprecedented storage scalability and performance, and dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of managing storage growth-empowering enterprises to achieve unprecedented levels of innovation and business agility. Isilon's X-
Series clustered storage systems deliver the industry's first and only storage system to scale to greater than 1.6 Petabytes of capacity and provide performance of 10 Gigabytes per second in a single file system and single volume-achieving 100X the scalability and 20X the performance of traditional SAN and NAS storage systems.
Product: X-Series Clustered Storage
Company: Isilon
Available: Now
For More Information: www.isilon.com
Maximize the Utility of Your Information
SciTegic Enterprise Server (SES) is a powerful data processing platform that streamlines the integration and analysis of vast quantities of information. SES and its graphical client, SciTegic Pipeline Pilot (SPP), help you maximize the utility of your information resources through enterprise-scale data flow control and powerful mining capabilities. Additionally, using the same graphical interface, SES can be used to create and execute multi-step, short-running web applications, allowing users to parameterize data processing routines through simple, customized interfaces. SES is the successor to the Pipeline Pilot platform, and is specifically designed to meet critical requirements of the research informatics professional: an agile development environment, fast and secure deployment, minimal maintenance costs, and application extensibility.
Product: SciTegic Enterprise Server v 7.0
Company: Accelrys
Available: Now
For More Information: http://accelrys.com/products/scitegic
Scalability, Speed, and Ease of Management
Univa's Grid MP is the leading product for building distributed computing environments from non-dedicated resources to deliver increased high-performance computing (HPC) power. With production installations at hundreds of customers including 9 of the top 10 Global Pharmas, Grid MP reduces costs and improves productivity by harnessing unused compute cycles to create desktop compute grids. No other commercial technology is engineered to operate across thousands of disparate, globally-dispersed devices. Grid MP's proven scalability, speed of application enablement, and ease of management are among the top features cited by satisfied customers worldwide.
Product: Grid MP 5.5
Company: Univa UD
Available: Now
For More Information: www.univaud.com
The Netezza Performance Server (NPS) family of enterprise-class streaming analytic appliances is designed specifically for high-performance, terascale analytics. The NPS system architecturally integrates relational database, server and storage in one compact, power-efficient unit.
More Information: www.netezza.com
Tom Sawyer Perspectives facilitates rapid application development in a graphical environment. Perspectives is designed to reduce the time required to develop visualization applications while helping users discover new patterns, unknown relationships, and hidden dependencies in your data.
More Information: www.tomsawyer.com/tsp/tsp.java.php
AMD's Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors provide extraordinary performance and efficiency in a consistent thermal envelope, thanks to a native core design. The product provides a seamless transition to quad-core computing from AMD's Dual-Core AMD Opteron (DDR2) processors.
More Information: www.amd.com/quadcore
The Dell Latitude Tablet XT is the thinnest and one of the lightest 12.1-inch convertible tablets available. It is also the brightest in its category with an optional 400 nit daylight viewing panel. It is the industry's only sub-four-pound convertible tablet with pen and capacitive touch capability.
More Information: www.dell.com/lifesciences
BEST OF SHOW: Life Science Informatics Platforms
Desktop Ontology Management
The Sentient Suite of software integrates data, applications, databases, and instruments into one secure and compliant interoperable environment. The Sentient Knowledge Explorer module, released in February, is a desktop application for ontology management, semantic data integration and knowledge visualisation. It includes a proprietary RDF-based Knowledge Base, tools for Cross-Ontology Mapping and for mapping of data to ontologies, SPARQL Query, an integrated Thesaurus Manager for data classes and relationships and other features, such as network complexity reduction tools and the ability to handle and merge data from different semantic standards from files or directly via URIs into a common ontology.
Product: Sentient Suite of Software, Knowledge Explorer
Company: IO Informatics
Available: Now
For More Information: www.io-informatics.com
The Biologist's ELN
Collaborative Electronic Research Framework (CERF) is a lab notebook designed by biologists for biologists. CERF 2.7.1 addresses feedback from over 30 commercial installations and focuses on the user experience and increased flexibility and interactivity. The update adds the new Science Desktop suite of integrated applications that includes a Semantic Spreadsheet application, Bibliography Management, Semantic Image Annotation tool, and the Automation Client for data collection and management services.
Product: CERF v 2.7.1
Company: Rescentris
Available: Now
For More Information: www.rescentris.com
Wireless Inventory
Progeny LIMS is a sample inventory management software capable of tracking any type of sample. Support is included for both 1-D and 2-D barcodes as well as wireless handheld devices. A full chain of custody is available within the software to determine any action taken on a single sample. The database included with this product is completely customizable, and custom workflows are supported. Built-in security allows users to control access to specific samples, as well as read and write access to data fields on samples. Every action performed on a sample by a user is auditable.
Product: Progeny LIMS
Company: Progeny Software
Available: Now
For More Information: www.progenygenetics.com
Genomics Lab System
Geneus is a genomics lab and data management system that integrates clinical data from hospital information management systems, electronic medical records, and clinical trial systems; manages specimens through DNA and RNA extraction protocols; provides robotics and instrument integration and automation; and pipelines data into sophisticated algorithms for knowledge discovery. Geneus is built on the Omix platform.
Product: Geneus
Company: GenoLogics
Available: Now
For more information: www.genologics.com
Core LIMS is a web-based, customizable LIMS available via 3 modes of delivery to match user requirements and budget including: LIMS Appliances, LIMS Hosting, and Enterprise LIMS.
More Information: www.coreLIMS.com
GenomeQuest is a web-based, sequence informatics platform for managing and mining sequence data. Users can exploit genomic information resources including the DrugBank Pro database.
More Information: www.genomequest.com
The Infosys Technologies Scientist WorkBench is an architectural approach, based on SOA and web services that addresses needs in biomarker based identification, structure based drug design, and other areas.
More Information: www.infosys.com
eNovator from KineMatik is web-based solution combining an electronic lab notebook, project and program management, quality management system, and a training management system.
More Information: www.kinematik.com
Symyx Notebook is a single, enterprise electronic lab notebook that replaces discipline-specific notebooks and consolidates experimental data from multiple disciplines.
More Information: www.symyx.com
CLC bio's Enterprise Suite is a fully integrated 3-tier client/server/database solution, merged into one single bioinformatics platform.
More Information: www.clcbio.com
BEST OF SHOW: Life Science Informatics Applications
Language-Based Search
I2E v 3.0 provides a high performance natural language processing (NLP)-based knowledge discovery platform that rapidly reveals high quality, facts and relationships from text. I2E combines four key capabilities: agile NLP-based querying; search engine approach; intuitive reporting; and domain knowledge plug-in. I2E features a client-server architecture built using industry-standard Java and C for use by single users, project teams, and in enterprise-wide deployments. Organizations control source content, definition of queries, and results output.
Product: I2E v 3.0
Company: Linguamatics
Available: Now
For more information: www.linguamatics.com
Playstation Algorithm
eHiTS Lightning is the first life sciences application delivered on the very powerful, yet inexpensive PS3 Playstation. eHiTS delivers a docking algorithm which performs an exhaustive, systematic, flexible docking pose search. The algorithm enumerates all feasible docking poses that are sufficiently different from each other and match both steric and chemical feature complementarity constraints. The algorithm divides the 3D structure of the ligand into rigid fragments and flexible chains and docks the rigid fragments independently into the receptor site. A novel graph matching algorithm rapidly enumerates all compatible fragment pose combinations.
Product: eHiTS Lightning
Company: SimBioSys
Available: Now
For more information: www.simbiosys.ca
Next-Gen Sequencing on the Desktop
SeqMan Genome Assembler (SMGA) sequence analysis software permits users to assemble and work with multiple next-generation sequencing platforms on a desktop computer. The software can assemble data obtained from 454 and Illumina along with traditional Sanger data. Templated or de novo assemblies of up to 12 Mb in size can be performed on either Windows (XP or Vista) or Mac (OS X 10.4 or Leopard) systems. Minimums requirements are a 64-bit processor, 1.5 GB RAM, and 3 GB available hard drive space. Additional RAM and storage capability on a computer permits users to work with larger projects faster. SeqMan Genome Assembler can be used on either Windows or Mac operating systems.
Product: SeqMan Genome Assembler
Company: DNASTAR
Available: Now
For more information: www.dnastar.com
CLC bio's CLC Genomics Workbench includes high performance computing accelerated assembly of next-gen sequencing data, and support for a number of downstream analyses and work-tasks, such as reference assembly of genomes, de novo assembly of genomes, and SNP detection using advanced statistical models.
More information: www.clcbio.com
The BioTeam's WIKILims is a system for integration of next-generation sequencer (and other equipment) data into a wiki-based database. It is a user friendly, scalable database that doesn't require up front schema design and can be accessed via APIs. Automatic version control adapts well to continuously evolving requirements.
More information: www.bioteam.net
ChemNavigator's iResearch Library tracks over 46.7 million chemical products ranging from drug-like compounds for testing in molecular screening to synthetic building blocks for use in chemical synthesis. Customers can purchase existing chemical samples for testing and identify new sources of chemistry.
More information: www.chemnavigator.com
GeneGo's MetaRodent is based on a manually-curated database of mouse and rat-specific biological interactions. It enables direct comparison of disease states and drug action in humans and rodents, facilitating the appropriate interpretation of experimental data for potential pharmacological and toxicological effects in man.
More information: www.genego.com
The Google Search Appliance provides universal search for life sciences organizations, which provides the ability to search all enterprise content including intranets, file shares, databases, real-time business data, and content management systems through one simple search box.
More information: www.google.com/enterprise/gsa/index/html
LabVantage's Sapphire BioBanking Solution with Integrative Analytics equips organizations with a comprehensive solution for enterprise operational workflow and data management; global data access and visualization; analytics-driven decision support; and laboratory informatics backbone.
More information: www.labvantage.com
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This article appeared in Bio-IT World Magazine.
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