IDBS Expands British Customer Base-- Assisting Biotechnology Companies to Maximise the Value of Research Data.

Business/Technology Editors

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 15, 2002

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BioFocus, Amersham Biosciences, Argenta, De Novo and Vernalis Amongst Leading Companies in Britain using IDBS' ActivityBase Software to Manage and Integrate Drug Discovery Data

ID Business Solutions (IDBS), the leading provider of integrated data management, analysis and decision-making software for the life sciences, today announced several new customers for its ActivityBase software suite in the British biotechnology sector, including: BioFocus, Amersham Biosciences, Argenta Discovery, De Novo Pharmaceuticals, Vernalis, Cyclacel and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. IDBS' ActivityBase is used by the majority of the world's leading biopharmaceutical and agrochemical companies and is the only application in which chemical and biological data management is fully integrated. By allowing scientists to define and run experiments, and capture and analyse data within one integrated application, ActivityBase helps to streamline the discovery process.

Customer Applications

BioFocus plc (AIM: BIO) is a collaborative drug discovery company providing medicinal chemistry and biological screening expertise to the biopharmaceutical industry. BioFocus, which recently acquired Cambridge Drug Discovery, will use IDBS' ActivityBase to support high-, medium- and low- throughput screening. Adrian Kinkaid, Head of Screening at BioFocus, commented: "BioFocus chose ActivityBase because it sets the industry standard for data handling and object (compound) tracking." He continued, "ActivityBase is intuitive and accurately reflects the real-life processes in drug discovery. We particularly like the database structure."

Amersham Biosciences, the life sciences arm of Amersham plc (LSE, NYSE, OSE: AHM), is a global provider of integrated systems and service for use in gene and protein research, drug discovery and development and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Many major pharmaceutical companies are mutual customers of Amersham and IDBS, and so it is critical to provide an effective interface between Amersham Biosciences' drug discovery instrumentation and IDBS' ActivityBase software. The two companies are collaborating to integrate data from Amersham Biosciences' forthcoming IN Cell Analyzer, a confocal imaging system for both live and fixed cellular assays, into ActivityBase. Currently ActivityBase is being used in Amersham Biosciences to manage the data generated from their contract screening operation based at the research site in Cardiff, Wales.

Argenta Discovery is an independent drug discovery company providing primarily hit-to-lead and lead optimisation services to the pharmaceutical industry. ActivityBase supports data capture, analysis and decision making in Argenta's medicinal and high-throughput analytical chemistry, biochemical and cellular screening and in vitro pharmacokinetic screening operations. Donald Daley, Director of IT and Analytics at Argenta, said: "ActivityBase allows us to manage our chemical and biological data in an integrated framework across the enterprise. This facilitates fast and accurate decision-making based on a full complement of data."

De Novo Pharmaceuticals, based in Cambridge, recently selected ActivityBase for integrating chemical and biological data from its screening operations. De Novo focuses on in silico drug design and the provision of new drug candidates, collaborating with major biopharmaceutical companies worldwide. Bob Gordon, Vice President of Biology at De Novo, commented: "We are delighted to be working with IDBS, who we view as a leading edge partner in informatics."

Vernalis (LSE: VER) is an integrated European biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialisation of new prescription medicines for the treatment of diseases and disorders related to the central nervous system. Vernalis deployed ActivityBase on an enterprise-wide basis, integrating chemical and biological data from across its Research division. Scott Weiss, Assoc. Director of Psychopharmacology at Vernalis, commented: "ActivityBase is a key element in our discovery informatics environment, providing a common framework in which our scientists can capture and manage their research data."

Neil Kipling, IDBS' Chairman and CEO, said: "As an independent British company, IDBS is pleased to support the thriving biopharmaceutical community in Britain. In the last year alone, companies in the UK have brought 128 products into clinical development and 8 new medicines to market. By comparison, the nearest other European country saw 28 products move into clinical development." He continued, "With the growing volume and complexity of data generated in drug discovery, strategies for integration and accessibility of data are critical. IDBS' vision of data integration is based around a dynamic, data centric architecture. ActivityBase is one component of this architecture, which provides an effective foundation that can grow and develop with the needs of biopharmaceutical businesses, as well as support efficient data sharing in collaborations."

About ID Business Solutions Ltd

IDBS works with discovery organisations to maximise the value of research data, by providing software solutions to capture, manage and use biological and chemical information in an integrated framework. Unlike resource-intensive tool-based solutions, IDBS delivers complete -- and proven -- applications that bridge the gap between IT and science. Headquartered in Guildford, United Kingdom, IDBS has offices in Emeryville, California; Parsippany, New Jersey; and, Cambridge, Massachusetts. IDBS partners with CTC Laboratory Systems in Japan to market IDBS products and services. Founded in 1989, IDBS employs over 140 people worldwide.

For more information see www.id-bs.com