Bioinformatics Platform to Deliver High-Performance Solution for Acceleration
Of Drug Discovery
SAN DIEGO, BIO Conference, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Caprion Pharmaceuticals
Inc., a drug-discovery company applying proteomics and cell biology expertise,
today announced a collaboration to develop and operate a highly scalable
bioinformatics platform for proteomic disease modeling as part of Caprion's
CellCarta(TM) drug discovery offering. Technologies, hardware and software
from Sun Microsystems and Oracle, and systems integration expertise from CGI
will be combined with Caprion's cell biology and mass spectrometry techniques
to analyze, map and store the protein differences between normal and diseased
cells.
Caprion's CellCarta(TM) Solaris platform, will include servers, storage
and infrastructure solutions from Sun and Oracle, which will enable Caprion to
effectively study proteins within cells by creating comprehensive
three-dimensional maps of protein location and orientation in their biological
context. Caprion uses mass spectrometers to digitize cellular information in
multiple states, identifying and modeling disease. A data warehouse will be
designed and developed by Oracle Consulting.
Caprion hopes to accelerate the detection of disease-related proteins
through the creation of a specialized data centre. This centre, expected to
be operational in September, 2001, will process up to 100 terabytes of
information per year and will represent one of the largest and fastest
dedicated protein analysis server banks in the world.
With the completion of a rough draft of the human genetic code,
researchers are now launching large-scale efforts to study proteins, a field
known as proteomics. Proteins carry information within and between cells, and
carry out most of life's basic processes. Proteomics is expected to lead to
advances in treating HIV, cancer and other diseases.
"We're very excited about this platform, because it brings the best
solutions from Sun and Oracle which will speed breakthroughs in identifying
disease-related proteins," said Lloyd M. Segal, president and chief executive
officer of Caprion Pharmaceuticals. "Sun and Oracle's significant
contributions of software and information management capabilities are beyond
that of any proteomics company, and allow us to apply key knowledge from other
industries to meet our challenges. CGI's ability to integrate the entire
program made our goals of data throughput possible in the limited time we have
available."
Sun is expected to invest substantial software engineering resources,
professional services, Enterprise(TM)-class servers, Sun StorEdge(TM)
offerings, and the Solaris(TM) Operating Environment. Sun is a leader in the
UNIX(R) systems and open storage market with a comprehensive set of network
storage offerings for the enterprise market.
"Sun's highly reliable, scalable and available systems are already helping
Caprion speed up the massive computational processing required to analyze
their biological data," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO, Sun
Microsystems, Inc. "Sun is providing a core piece of the technology that is
enabling this proteomics revolution. With the potential for analysis of over
one million proteins in the human body, Sun and Caprion are harnessing today's
computing power to help transform the future of medicine."
In addition to using the Oracle database as the software foundation for
the project, Oracle Consulting will design and develop the Pipeline data
warehouse.
"Oracle is the most widely distributed database platform in the
biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries," said Bill Bergen, president of
Oracle Corporation Canada Inc. "Its robust and scaleable products will
provide Caprion with a superior platform to meet -- and exceed -- its goals
and objectives in the critically important areas of genetic research,
proteomics and drug development."
CGI will provide system integration, consultation, project management and
development for this project. CGI will support and maintain the data centre
operations for a period of five years.
"We are very pleased and excited about this critical undertaking. We look
forward to the challenge of integrating seven major components that have to
talk to each other, all within the this very complex structure. The
challenges of the architecture are due to Caprion's ability to create
unprecedented digital resolution of cells," said Serge Godin, chairman,
president and CEO of CGI.
About Caprion
Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biotechnology company applying
proteomics -- the study of the nature and function of proteins -- to
accelerate the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Caprion's provides
CellCarta proteomics research for major biopharmaceutical companies to
increase the speed and efficiency of early stage drug discovery and to develop
its own diagnostic and therapeutic products. Caprion's current product
development programs include the first blood screening reagents for Mad Cow
Disease and its human equivalent. For more on Caprion, see http://www.caprion.com.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The
Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems to its position as a leading
provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the
Internet and allow companies worldwide to take their businesses to the nth.
With $19.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than
170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is the fifth-largest independent information
technology services firm in North America, based on its headcount of more than
10,000 professionals. CGI's order backlog totals approximately US$5.3 billion
(CDN$8.2 billion) and its revenue run-rate is close to US$1 billion
(CDN$1.5 billion). CGI provides end-to-end IT services and business solutions
to 2,500 clients in the United States, Canada and more than 20 countries
around the world. CGI's shares are listed on the NYSE (GIB), as well as on
the TSE (GIB.A). They are included in the Toronto Stock Exchange's TSE
300 index as well as the S&P/TSE Canadian Information Technology index. For
more on CGI, see http://www.cgi.ca.
NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Enterprise, Sun StorEdge,
Solaris and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Sun Microsystems in the Unites States and other countries. UNIX
is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries,
exclusively licensed thought X/Open Company, Ltd. Caprion and CellCarta are
trademarks of Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Doron Aronson of Sun Microsystems, Inc., 408-517-5529, or
doron.aronson@sun.com; or Lloyd M. Segal of Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc.,
514-940-3604, or lsegal@caprion.com; or Ronald White of CGI, 514-841-3230, or
ronald.white@cgi.ca.
SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://sun.com
CONTACT:
Doron Aronson of Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
408-517-5529, or doron.aronson@sun.com; or Lloyd M. Segal of
Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc., 514-940-3604, or
lsegal@caprion.com; or Ronald White of CGI, 514-841-3230, or
ronald.white@cgi.ca
|
