IDBS Launches Omics Workbench to Simplify NGS and Omics Analysis

Best of breed omics data analytics are easy to use and remove research bottlenecks

IDBS Translational Research Symposium, Central London, October 19, 2011 – IDBS, a global provider of innovative data management, analytics and modeling solutions, announced today the launch of Omics Workbench, a groundbreaking product that supports Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and other omics techniques in research and clinical labs. Omics Workbench is a simple-to-run, web-based framework for the analysis of all types of omics data and supports labs of all sizes and configurations, particularly those with minimal bioinformatics support.

Omics Workbench addresses the deluge of data that scientists and clinical researchers are facing and is able to remove the bottlenecks in analytics that slow the advance in use of these technologies. This will have a significant impact on the ability to better understand disease and deliver more precision therapies.

Many research and clinical groups face significant data challenges stemming from the adoption of new technologies, the scarcity of bioinformatics expertise and the rapid evolution of new analysis techniques. Numerous groups have invested in NGS to work alongside their existing techniques, which leads to increased complexity: the rapidly expanding data sets are often in various formats, use incompatible algorithms and are housed in different systems, creating bottlenecks to integration and analysis. In many clinical academic and industrial labs there remains a significant shortage of bioinformatics skills or experienced staff to regularly custom-build and run analyses, and this is amplified by the rapid evolution of omics techniques and algorithms

Omics Workbench provides labs with a rapidly deployable, easily supported and easy to evolve solution. It offers pre-built analytics, visualization, and workflows for all types of omics data including gene expression and copy number variation (CNV) from both NGS and microarrays. Analytics for NGS include secondary and tertiary analysis to support end to end analysis; there is a particular focus on delivering scientist-oriented displays to highlight genetic variants between cohort groups, and provide supporting annotation. Omics Workbench can be either deployed on site or hosted in a cloud infrastructure.

“The use of NGS/omics in research, clinical trials and importantly clinical care will dramatically change healthcare,” said Neil Kipling, founder and CEO of IDBS.  “However, as this technology is used by a wider group of people, informatics systems that get the most out of the data and make it usable are essential. We have harnessed our domain understanding and investment in R&D to develop Omics Workbench to deliver an easy to use system that provides  what researchers need today as well as a platform for their future requirements.”

Omics Workbench is fully compatible with the IDBS Biomolecular Hub which provides omics and variant data management, and all other components of the IDBS Enterprise Translational Medicine Solution enabling customers to easily upgrade their capabilities. Seamless integration with patient data means that researchers and principal investigators (PIs) can move seamlessly from cohort selection to omics analysis.

About IDBS

IDBS is a global provider of innovative enterprise data management, analytics and modeling solutions. The company’s uniquely sophisticated platform technologies are used by more than 200 pharmaceutical companies, major healthcare providers, global leaders in academic study, and high tech companies to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve the productivity of industrial R&D and clinical research. IDBS is clearly differentiated by its unique combination of award-winning enterprise technologies and domain knowledge in R&D.

IDBS’ solutions help scientists, hospitals and R&D businesses produce the world’s newest therapeutics, diagnostics and personalized treatments, faster, cleaner engines and fuels, breakthroughs in productive agriculture, healthy, safer food products, and high tech materials and consumer products.

Founded in 1989 and privately held, IDBS is headquartered in Guildford, UK with a direct sales and support presence worldwide. IDBS is a Profit Track 100 company and the recipient of multiple awards including the Frost and Sullivan ‘Enabling Technology’ Award in R&D data management for 2010 and Queen’s Award for International Trade 2011. Further information can be found at www.idbs.com, or follow us on Twitter @IDBSsoftware.