TCS unveils Bio-Suite

SAN FRANCISCO: Applying the power of information technology to the life science industry’s most complex bioinformatics challenges, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched Tata Bio-Suite, a portable, versatile software package for life sciences and drug discovery. The announcement was made at the BIO 2004 Annual International Convention in San Francisco.

TCS developed Tata Bio-Suite over the past two years in collaboration with several of India’s leading academic institutes through the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI), a program sponsored by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

According to Front Line Technologies, the worldwide market for software and IT services related to Bioinformatics will reach US $ 2.6 billion by 2007. Recognizing that it will play an increasingly important role in global health care and science, TCS created its Bioinformatics division within the Advanced Technology Center (ATC).

As its first commercial activity, TCS developed Tata Bio-Suite for accelerated drug discovery, custom drug design and individualized health care. The company claims it is a comprehensive suite of algorithms and computational methods that addresses all aspects of computational biology in drug discovery, ranging from sequence analysis and comparative genomic to structure-based drug design. Bio-Suite is aimed at small and medium biotech and discovery companies and major pharmaceutical companies, as well as academic and R&D groups.

Typically, large pharmaceuticals and bio-pharmaceutical companies with ample resources have handled high-end processing work through in-house IT staff using proprietary software or the standard analysis software system (SASS).

Tata Bio-Suite is the first software generally available to the life sciences community as a whole, giving small and medium-size firms and institutions access to computational resources on par with the proprietary solutions of larger competitors.

Subsequent versions of the software are expected to introduce new algorithms developed at TCS’ Hyderabad ATC, as well as by other collaborating research groups around the world. The current version of offers eight modules–sequence analysis, genome analysis, comparative genomics, 3D modeling, 3D structure manipulations, structural analysis, simulations and drug design.

"The development of Tata Bio-Suite represents an important stage in the evolution of Bioinformatics, in which one of the world’s leading information technology firms has invested the time and commitment to derive solutions to revolutionize life sciences," said TCS ATC executive vice president and head Dr M Vidyasagar.

So far, only research institutions involved with the development of the product could participate in beta testing. However, beginning at Bio 2004, TCS will open its beta program to other pharmaceutical firms and academic institutions worldwide.

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