Singapore, Jan 29, 2008: Bioinformatics firm Synamatix announced a research collaboration and the licensing of cutting-edge bioinformatics technologies to Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI). The selection of bioinformatics solutions will be housed in a new centralized facility for BRI scientists to accelerate critical components of their biodiversity and marine biology research.

 

The collaboration will also include a research partnership program that will enable opportunities for ‘national interest’ projects with Synamatix customers in the USA, Europe and Asia.

 

Dr Ann Anton, Director of the BRI, said, “Synamatix was identified as our first choice partner based upon an extensive track record, validated technologies and international experience. Working with institutions such as Washington University Genome Sequencing Center (US), Beatson Institute for Cancer Research (UK) and also the Malaysia Genome Institute gave us confidence in their ability to contribute and add value to critical areas of research.”

 

Synamatix General Manager, Dr Arif Anwar, said, “We designed an integrated best-of-breed solution incorporating Synamatix technologies as well as third party software and hardware to meet the very diverse needs of BRI researchers. Applications will support and enhance extensive research activities in areas such as biodiversity and marine biology. By combining BRI’s strengths in plant and marine research along with our domain expertise and cutting-edge technologies, we expect to achieve key research milestones within 12–24 months.”

 

BRI’s newly completed Bioinformatics Resource Facility is the first in Malaysia to apply Synamatix’s research, teaching and commercial partnership programs with specific milestone targets identified over a three-year period. It is envisaged that this collaboration will help bridge the gap between innovative research in universities and practical applications in industry for Malaysia’s growing biotechnology sector.

 

BRI, as a Center of Excellence in the field of biotechnology, aims to promote research and development in biological or life sciences for the improvement of the quality of human life in medicine, food, agricultural science and environmental protection.