Structural Bioinformatics Announces New Version of StructureBank for Managing 3-D Protein Structures; Relational Database Suite Now Supports IBM DB2 Universal Database

Business Wire, Nov 2, 2001

Business/Medical/Health Writers

BIOWIRE2K

SAN DIEGO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 2, 2001

Structural Bioinformatics, Inc. (SBI) announced today that SBI's StructureBank(TM)*, a powerful relational database suite for storing, manipulating and retrieving 3-D protein structures, is now available for IBM's DB2** Universal Database.

Today's announcement follows on SBI's choice to lead with DB2 as its preferred database platform. The new StructureBank(TM) version will provide customers with broader data analysis and integration capabilities.

The combined offering is the first in a series of joint efforts planned through an alliance that focuses on using information technology to make protein structural information more readily available to life science researchers. StructureBank(TM) allows researchers to import protein sequences and 3-D protein structures from a number of sources, including public and private databases.

"There is a growing recognition that broad access to structural information will be the key to unlocking the wealth of new drug target opportunities emerging from the human genome and the genomes of literally hundreds of infectious disease agents," said Dr. Ed Maggio, SBI's chairman, president and CEO. "StructureBank(TM) encourages the use of protein structural information, not only in protein-driven drug design, but also across all disciplines in the life sciences. Our collaboration with IBM is designed to leverage our capabilities in protein research with IBM's lead position in information technology solutions for life sciences."

Running on IBM's DB2 Universal Database, StructureBank(TM) now offers broader data analysis capabilities, including the ability to integrate disparate data from a variety of sources, databases and file types. Data integration is enhanced through a federated data approach, which enables users to take full advantage of each data source without moving the data from where it resides. This is particularly important as the life sciences industry enters into an exponential growth phase driven by proteomics.

"The combination of DB2 -- the most scalable database platform in the industry -- and SBI's StructureBank(TM) offers a powerful solution for managing complex data, such as 3D protein structures," said Dr. Caroline Kovac, general manager, IBM Life Sciences Solutions. "These complementary technologies provide a comprehensive approach to accessing and using different types of data."

Commenting on the announcement, SBI's cofounder and chief scientific officer, Dr. Kal Ramnarayan, added: "I am very impressed by the level of service and commitment by all of the IBM professionals involved in porting StructureBank(TM) to the DB2 platform. By developing database platforms in concert with high performance hardware, IBM is clearly providing a seamless solution for managing the terabytes of information generated in the Life Sciences. Our mutual customers are looking forward to SBI's near-term release of our other products on IBM's powerful database platform."

About Structural Bioinformatics, Inc.

Structural Bioinformatics, Inc. (SBI) is an innovative drug discovery company built on a proprietary proteomics platform. SBI has developed advanced technologies that unify 3-D protein structural information with pharmacogenomics, bioinformatics, and chemistry solutions. The company's contract services and database products accelerate drug discovery through a fusion of computational and experimental design methodologies. SBI's premiere contract drug discovery service, Genes to Leads(R), provides initial drug hits within 120 days. Customers can also have access to 3-D protein structures of atomic resolution via a suite of database products, which include the ProMax(TM) database of over 3,000 structures, the Variome(TM) structural pharmacogenomics database, and StructureBank(TM), a relational database. SBI has offices in San Diego, CA; Cambridge MA.; Washington, DC, and Horsholm, Denmark. More information may be found on our website at: www.strubix.com.

* Indicates trademark or registered trademark of Structural Bioinformatics, Inc.

** Indicates trademark or registered trademark of IBM Corporation