New Genedata Screener for Surface Plasmon Resonance Co-developed with AstraZeneca Announced at 2014 Bio-IT World Conference & Expo

Genedata, a leading provider of advanced software solutions for drug discovery and life science research, has announced the new Genedata Screener® for Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) at the 2014 Bio-IT World Conference & Expo. Co-developed with AstraZeneca, Genedata Screener for SPR is built on the established enterprise platform Genedata Screener. The first-in-class Genedata Screener for SPR is a data analysis solution that imports and analyzes full sensorgrams from the most commonly-used SPR instruments. Combining SPR technology with Screener’s stringent analysis workflow, the new platform standardizes and automates SPR raw data loading, pre-processing, analysis, result generation, and reporting -- independent of sample throughput and application type. Genedata Screener for SPR was demonstrated at the Bio-IT World Conference, Seaport World Trade Center.

Single-Platform SPR Data Analysis Improves Quality of SPR Screening
SPR is a key technology for studying label-free biomolecular reactions during the drug discovery and development process. The industry uses a variety of SPR technology types with each SPR instrument accompanied by vendor-specific analysis software. This fact requires research labs to manage different instrument interfaces, data analysis methods, and result output, which creates significant inefficiencies in the R&D process. Genedata Screener for SPR eliminates such inefficiencies by streamlining the data analysis within a single software platform. It also improves the ROI for existing instrumentation as it reduces the time it takes to use the software and increases the amount of time instruments can be operated.

“AstraZeneca wanted to standardize and improve the quality of SPR screening,” noted Dr. Per Hillertz, a research scientist and consultant to AstraZeneca who led the AstraZeneca team in the Genedata co-development project. “And, we accomplished that with Genedata Screener for SPR, which provides researchers with a standardized and automated workflow tailored to SPR-specific output and with built-in business logic to rapidly produce high-quality results.” The co-development project is part of an overall effort to standardize and improve the quality of the SPR screening workflow led by Dr. Anna Tigerström, a research scientist at AstraZeneca who has worked closely on the project with Anders Egnéus, M.Sc., informatics scientist from the AstraZeneca informatics department.

“The use of Genedata Screener for SPR data analysis will result in improved productivity through the elimination of manual error-prone processes, faster software performance, centralized set-up and maintenance, and higher utilization of installed instruments,” continued Hillertz. “Furthermore, the volume of compounds that can be analyzed with today’s instrumentation demands a screening data analysis methodology and Genedata Screener is the only solution capable of handling truly high throughput.”

Genedata Screener for SPR gives researchers full control over every analysis step, enabling interactive adjustments with all dependent calculations automatically recalculated accordingly. “Being able to adjust any pre-processing step from anywhere in the analysis process combined with Screener’s ability to automate the pre-processing steps are huge benefits to researchers,” said Hillertz. The platform’s inherent flexibility also provides extended diagnostics, graphical overviews, flexible annotations, and outlier rejection. As a single-platform solution, Genedata Screener for SPR generates new levels of efficiencies including:

• Elimination of manual tasks enabling scientists to focus on more in-depth data analysis
• Faster learning curves for scientists using new instruments
• Parallel analysis of unlimited numbers of binding curves
• Off-line analysis so that instruments run at maximum capacity
• Improved result quality through built-in trace pre-processing
• Easily comparable results in same application between instruments
• Central storage and easy accessibility to all SPR data and results

Genedata Screener for SPR can be used as a dedicated/stand-alone solution, integrated with an existing screening infrastructure, or added to an established Genedata Screener installation. The solution is scheduled for general availability with the release of Genedata Screener 12 in July 2014.

“We are very excited about our innovative Genedata Screener for SPR solution as we now support another major screening technology that benefits our rapidly growing customer base,” noted Dr. Othmar Pfannes, CEO of Genedata. “It also shows our commitment to deliver innovations that are designed to improve efficiencies and lower the total cost of ownership for instrumentation in pharmaceutical research labs and contract research organizations.”