Merial Selects Genostar's IOGMA Metabolic Pathway Builder Bioinformatics Software

Genostar, a developer of bioinformatics software that enables biologists and bioinformaticians to expertly mine and analyze diverse biological data, today announced that Merial, a world leader in animal health, has purchased its IOGMA(R) 3.4 Metabolic Pathway Builder software.

Genostar's IOGMA(R) 3.4 Metabolic Pathway Builder is a new package that integrates three modules of the company's successful bioinformatics products - GenoAnnot, ProteoAnnot, and PathwayExplorer. The package offers a number of different tools used to analyze high throughput bacterial genome, protein, and metabolism (-omics) data. It is designed to reduce laboratory costs and accelerate discovery results.

Another key benefit of the package consists of Genostar's microB, a managed database of more than 450 microbial organisms, sourced and then standardized from many commonly used but very differently organized reference databases around the world. MicroB's coordinated data will help Merial access large amounts of cross-linked genome, protein, and metabolic data fast and efficiently. This is a significant step forward for researchers looking to access and use data easily.

"With IOGMA 3.4 Metabolic Pathway Builder in our labs, our research teams now have access to improved tools and data that allow us to increase our productivity in our innovative research programs," said Dr. Jean-Christophe Audonnet, Senior Director, Discovery Research, Vaccinomics and Recombinant Vaccines at Merial. "This added expertise will maintain Merial's position as the leading company in veterinary vaccinology."

Designed to analyze various microorganism strains, IOGMA 3.4 enables biologists to investigate, for example, virulent, disease-causing pathogens. This type of research could potentially lead to strategies to prevent catastrophic diseases due to viruses, bacteria or parasites in domestic or wild animals.

"New discovery techniques through bioinformatics are being actively sought by vaccine developers," said Jean-François Mouret, Director of Business Development at Genostar. "By using our IOGMA 3.4 Metabolic Pathway Builder, pharmaceutical research teams will save on laboratory development costs, and bring results to their customers sooner."

New capabilities that come with IOGMA 3.4 Metabolic Pathway Builder bioinformatics software include:

• A client-server version that allows collaborative life sciences teams to carry out research on the same, shared data
• Enhancement of the software tools with the integration of MUMmer, a commonly used open-source bioinformatics analysis tool. This capability permits researchers to compare genomes of different species or strains of micro-organisms.