Today at Microsoft’s biotechnology Executive Forum, Microsoft Corp. announced the initiation of the BioIT Alliance’s second proof of concept, called the Biomarkers Project, along with an update on the Alliance’s first proof of concept, the Collaborative Molecular Environment.
The Biomarkers Project will simplify the process for identifying and validating genomic biomarkers — the characteristics that indicate the presence of a disease or the likely efficacy of a drug. Agilent Technologies Inc., Applied Biosystems, and Illumina Inc.will work in cooperation with Microsoft and other software developers to ensure that their data products and content are accessible, enabling independent software vendors to develop off-the-shelf solutions for biomedical research and life science companies.
The BioIT Alliance is a cross-industry group working to integrate science and technology to accelerate the pace of drug discovery and realize the potential of personalized medicine. The early focus of the Alliance has been to address the data-capture and data-integration challenges that face the industry. Additional information about the BioIT Alliance can be found on its Web site at http://www.bioitalliance.org.