Genostar announces the availability of its bioinformatics platform

Consortium brings first version to market for French public labs, international version to follow in Q1 2003
Paris, October 15, 2002-The Genostar consortium, which includes GENOME express, Hybrigenics, INRIA and the Institut Pasteur, announces today the availability of its bioinformatics platform for exploratory genomics version 1.0. Announced and demonstrated in May 2002, the Genostar platform brings a new dimension to the analysis of genomic and post-genomic data. It introduces explicit representation both of biological and informatic entities implicated in the discovery process, and of their inter-relationships.

The initial version will be available from November 15 for French national laboratories. Subsequent versions to be announced Q1 2003 will be available to all. Private sector and international researchers wishing to use the platform will do so through collaboration with the private sector members of the consortium, GENOME Express and Hybrigenics. Further details of access conditions including user license terms can be found on the website www.genostar.org.

Genostar runs under Linux, Unix and Mac OS X. It is made up of three application modules, GenoAnnot, GenoLink and GenoBool, and a kernel that handles the management and persistence of shared data.

GenoAnnot is dedicated to the annotation of genomic sequences, that is to say, the identification of zones of biological interest. Of these, the most important are the coding regions.
GenoLink allows the comparison and classification of different types of data and helps the biologist characterize the function of the genes identified.
GenoBool offers data analysis and visualization capabilities revealing correlations that can be exploited by GenoLink.

This fully-functional, open-ended and user-friendly discovery tool has been in beta-test since June at half a dozen public laboratories in France. The GenoAnnot module makes it particularly suitable for the exploration of data concerning prokaryote organisms.

The added value of this version is a direct result of the availability of complete sequences of close to 100 bacterial genomes, with two complete genomes being added every month. Future versions - which will be available to international and private sector users - will offer advanced data and knowledge management functions as well as extended analysis including eukaryote genomes.

Genostar meets the challenge of working with the huge volumes and diversity of genomic data by offering scientists a new architecture based on a unified representation of data and the relationships between them. Scientists will find this approach a significant advance in genomic research as it allows the user to store, manipulate and compare different types of data, an activity hitherto fraught with problems.

Genostar's designers set out to develop a comprehensive discovery platform that could be employed across all fields of genomics and manipulate and compare various categories of data. Another goal was scalability, allowing inclusion of new categories of data, customization of discovery methods and integration of new bioinformatic modules into the system. The platform also meets objectives in user-friendliness: plug'n'play, interoperability between modules and compatibility with a range of operating systems. The concept of a unique, unified, bioinformatic representation of data, offering a user-friendly set of tools for synthesizing and analyzing data, is at the heart of Genostar.

About Genostar
Genostar is a public-private consortium founded in December 1999 to provide the scientific community with an international-class bioinformatics platform for exploratory genomics. The four members of the Genostar consortium are GENOME express, Hybrigenics, INRIA and the Pasteur Institute. The first version of Genostar gives public and private sector researchers a platform offering a unified way of representing biological knowledge and able to process data from diverse sources such as high throughput sequencing, micro-arrays, proteomics and protein-protein interactions.

For more information: www.genostar.org  

About GENOME express
GENOME express, Grenoble, France, develops and markets high value-added solutions for functional genomics. The company offers a unique platform that integrates proprietary tools for genomics (discovery and identification of SNPs - Syn-QuenceTM), transscriptomics (gene expression analysis), and proteomics (identification of proteins using genome mapping of mass spectrometry data. Pep MapTM). Building on its success and experience as a service provider, GENOME express is currently making its platform accessible to private sector researchers and academics in the biopharmaceutical sector. This will be done through partnerships and enable GENOME express customers to outsource their R&D projects either in part or totally. The company is also developing its own research to discover new targets for therapeutic or diagnostic applications in the fields of metabolic diseases such as diabetes or asthma, the central nervous system and bacterial genomics

For more information: www.genomex.com 

About Hybrigenics
Hybrigenics is a functional proteomics company that identifies and validates new drug targets and therapeutic molecules via protein interaction mapping, and cellular generic as well as disease-specific assays in human cells. As a key player in the post-genomics era, the Company elucidates protein functions as part of specific biological complexes or as networks of interacting proteins (so called "pathways"). Because most drugs act on proteins or are themselves proteins, Hybrigenics' approach shortens the path between genomics and drug development.
The Company has developed integrated biological experiment-based and in silico-based technology platforms that allow identification, selection, prioritization and validation of therapeutic targets. Hybrigenics uses these platforms on an industrial scale to discover and validate novel targets for biopharmaceutical companies and for its own internal drug discovery programs.
Hybrigenics has a well-balanced business model, combining partnership with biopharmaceutical companies in any disease area and in-house Research and Development programs. These programs are focused on specific disease areas including viral diseases and cancer.

For more information: www.hybrigenics.com 

About INRIA
INRIA is a research institute at the heart of the information society. The National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control was founded in 1967. INRIA is a public scientific and technological institution placed under the dual authority of the French ministries of research and industry. INRIA is present in all fields that involve information and communication science and technology (ICST). Its role is, on the one hand, to carry out high-level basic and applied research, involving experimentation on innovative systems. On the other hand, the Institute must provide a strong technology transfer activity while paying keen attention to training through research, technical and scientific information diffusion, development, appraisals and participation in international programs. Health and life sciences are one of its two priority fields of application.

For more information: www.inria.fr 

About the Institut Pasteur
The Institut Pasteur is a private foundation in the service of public health. It aims to contribute to preventing and combating disease in France and abroad, through scientific and medical research, teaching and public health services. Twelve scientific departments bring together 130 research teams totaling 2500 people. A pioneer in the field of pathogenic microorganism genomics, Institut Pasteur's Genopole has seven technical platforms covering work in genomics, DNA chips, proteomics, informatics and annotation, production of monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins, macromolecular crystallisation and X-ray diffraction facility, and high throughput synthesis of long oligonucleotides.

For more information: www.pasteur.fr 


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