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With
Life Sciences fast emerging as one of the hottest markets,
the demand for IT tools to manage the exponential amount of
data churned out by various research labs is on the rise.
Analysts are predicting a projected total of $8.5 billion
in spending for IT in the life sciences market by the year
2005. Eyeing this lucrative segment, many software companies
have developed tools for managing this data. The latest addition
to this list is NuGenesis Technology, an IT solutions provider
in the area of ‘lab data management’. Having already
made it big in the US markets, the company is now training
its guns on the Indian pharmaceutical sector.
Says Ajit Nagral, chairman and founder, NuGenesis, “Indian
pharmaceutical firms who were traditionally in the generic
drug business are now looking to develop their own patent
protected drugs. In this race to obtain patents, time is of
essence. This is where drug discovery aided by IT can help
in the discovery of new molecules which companies can then
license. In short, we would like to be for the lab space what
SAP is for manufacturing.”
Currently, electronic information generated in labs is highly
fragmented, as there are more than 700 different manufacturers
of lab equipment each having their own proprietary systems,
which mean that they can typically be read by only the machine
that created it. Hence, the only data management method for
scientific information is print and file. Data and graphic
images needed for reports, presentations or new drug application
(NDA) submissions are paper-based and often inaccessible.
This results in an inordinate amount of time spent searching,
cutting and pasting. Adds Nagral, “With our automated
systems for collection, storage and application of scientific
information into a common electronic format, we will see an
increasing demand for our solutions in the lab management
space.” Currently, the company has products like NuGenesis
Unify, which puts the data into the databases; NuGenesis Vision,
which can aid in retrieval of this data, NuGenesis Archive,
which captures files and binary data and NuGenesis Restore,
which allows for viewing and searching of this data.
FDA regulations like the 21 CFR Part 11, which make mandatory
the use of electronic records in support of new drug applications,
have also contributed towards an increase in the company’s
market share. With this rule currently in force, as part of
the administration’s lab practice inspections, regulated
companies are searching for automated data collection and
storage solutions.
Adds Nagral, “Though Indian pharma companies are small
in size today, they have the potential to grow big as they
target global markets. As India and China are potentially
large markets, we would be keen to use India to support our
entry into other Asian markets. We have already opened a development
centre in India and plans are afoot to increase staff strength
by at least 50 people. We are also building a team of international
technical specialists who would be based out of India to support
our customers.”
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