NEW YORK--July 31, 2002-- Bioinformatics, a combination of information technology (IT) and biological sciences, is being recognized as a critical component of drug discovery by both pharmaceutical and pure IT companies.
"With the massive quantities of data now available to researchers, computers have become essential," says Technical Insights Analyst Katherine Austin. "However, having the data in the computer does not mean that it can be used in any meaningful way. The challenge for bioinformatics developers is to design platforms that can manage, retrieve, organize, compare, manipulate, and integrate data in a way that accelerates research, rather than acting as a bottleneck."
The discovery of new drugs means substantial profits, making bioinformatics a bright new field. Bioinformatics and molecular modeling technologies have the potential, within three to five years, to hugely decrease the risk, cost, and expertise required for the early stages of drug development--target selection and validation.
A significant application of bioinformatics is in silico discovery, which is the collection of data to substantiate targets and better the chances that a particular drug lead will be successful. This technology sorts and organizes data to enable scientists to identify potential drug targets, disease susceptibility, drug toxicity and efficacy, as well as individual responses to medication.
In addition, computer modeling of molecular structure can aid researchers in optimizing a potential drug lead, by allowing them to observe the effects of structural changes without expensive wet-lab experiments. If two or three targets result in marketable drugs, it will be a very profitable investment for pharmaceutical companies.
Success in the bioinformatics market depends on improved integration and interoperability among different software vendors, database providers, computer hardware, and in-house compilations. Developers need to focus on designing advanced integrated systems, algorithms, annotation protocols, and user interfaces to aid interpretation of data. Many companies are currently addressing the "integration" issue.
Standardization is another pressing need. The current situation is analogous to every computer manufacturer using its own operating system, which makes communication between systems exceedingly difficult.
"For the field to really progress, different systems developed by different companies must be equally accessible to the most crucial component of computational biology: the researcher," says Austin.
Researchers need bioinformatics tools that allow them to easily analyze and interpret data. This may be accomplished either by integrating a number of independent applications via an accessible, standardized interface, or by designing a single package that provides cross-database search and analysis functionality.
New analysis by Technical Insights, a business unit of Frost & Sullivan (www.technical-insights.frost.com), Bioinformatics, reveals that three fields will be most affected by advances in bioinformatics, all with the goal of structure-based drug design: genomics, proteomics, and combinatorial chemistry. The report also profiles representative key companies and academic groups, and provides highlights of the latest research developments.
Technical Insights will hold a conference call at 3:00 p.m. (EDT)/ 12:00 p.m. (PDT) on August 7, 2002 to provide a summary of the latest coverage on bioinformatics. Those interested in participating in the call should send an email to Julia Rowell at jrowell@frost.com with the following information for registration:
Full name, Company Name, Title, Contact Tel Number, Contact Fax Number, Email. Upon receipt of the above information, a confirmation/pass code for the live briefing will be emailed to you.
Frost & Sullivan is a global leader in strategic market consulting and training. Acquired by Frost & Sullivan, Technical Insights is an international technology analysis business that produces a variety of technical news alerts, newsletters, and reports. The ongoing analysis on bioinformatics technologies is covered in Genetic Technology Newsletter Alert, a Technical Insights subscription service, and in Proteomics, Combinatorial Chemistry, and Lab-on-a-Chip, Frost & Sullivan Technical Insights technology reports. Executive summaries and interviews are available to the press.
Bioinformatics
Report: D238
Contact:
Julia Rowell
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