In order to acquire certain assets of Rosetta Biosoftware, a business unit of Rosetta Inpharmatics LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc. Microsoft Corp. revealed that it has signed an agreement with Merck & Co. Inc. To enable enhanced translational research capabilities, the deal allows Microsoft to incorporate genomic, genetic, metabolomic and proteomics data management software into the Microsoft Amalga Life Sciences platform, while,in order to enhance the Amalga Life Sciences platform to meet emerging pharmaceutical research needs, Microsoft will establish a strategic relationship with Merck.
Merck will become, based on this agreemnt, a customer of the Microsoft Amalga Life Sciences 2009 platform, while will provide strategic input to Microsoft on the direction and evolution of new solutions incorporating Rosetta Biosoftware technologies. This software platform will help drive improvements in Merck’s already advanced research capabilities.
Vice president, Merck Research Laboratories, Rupert Vessey, declared: “This agreement establishes a stable and sustainable platform for the Rosetta Biosoftware technology. In addition, we look forward to collaborating with Microsoft to develop new bioinformatic solutions to enable and expedite drug discovery and development.” He added: “This is part of our previously announced strategy designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our Basic Research operations to ensure long-term pipeline productivity.”
Corporate vice president, Health Solutions Group, Microsoft, Peter Neupert, stated: “We’re excited to collaborate with Merck and augment the capabilities of Amalga Life Sciences with the complementary assets of Rosetta Biosoftware.” He continued: “The newly combined offering will enable customers to improve the management and analysis of genomic, biological and research data, helping to bring lifesaving drugs and therapies to market faster and accelerate the realization of personalized medicine.”
Microsoft Amalga Life Sciences, released in April 2009, is a new software platform designed to transform health and life sciences research data into the critical knowledge needed for the discovery of new treatments. By automating the management and analysis of massive, heterogeneous research data, the platform is helping organizations across the life sciences spectrum to accelerate research and discovery efforts, giving scientists and researchers the opportunity to redesign, manage and control research processes to increase productivity, reduce errors and improve decision-making.
