APPLICATIONS

BOSTON, MA - GSAC CONFERENCE - Platform Computing today announced its selection by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and biotechnology firm Entelos to support the high-performance computing needs of the Diabetes Research Forum. The Forum is a groundbreaking scientific collaboration to advance research for the prevention, treatment, and cure of type 2 diabetes. Research conducted by the Forum will be provided to a select number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Working with partners Entelos and HP, Platform will leverage its flagship workload management software, Platform LSF, on the Diabetes BioCluster to create the largest integrated computing system in the world dedicated to a single disease. Together, the companies will use leading edge technologies to expedite research for the prevention, treatment, and cure of diabetes. "In the United States alone, approximately 200,000 people die each year from diabetes. Thus, there clearly is a need for innovative treatments and more progress toward a cure for diabetes," said Richard Kahn, PhD, chief scientific and medical officer, ADA. "Our ultimate goal is to bring new effective therapies to those people suffering from diabetes. Given its role in shortening time-to-discovery and time-to-development for life-saving research and drugs, Platform is a logical choice to partner with us in this endeavor." Platform customer Entelos, the leader in predictive biosimulation for in silico (in computer) drug discovery and development, has formed a scientific alliance with the ADA to form a Diabetes Research Forum. The Forum will commence this year and continue for three years. Entelos creates computer models that simulate human disease and predict the effects of different drugs, treatments and therapies on different individuals. Using Entelos' Diabetes PhysioLab simulation technology and Entelos scientists, participating pharmaceutical companies will generate novel theories, hypotheses and discoveries related to the treatment of diabetes. To support the specific research efforts of all participants, Entelos will provide each participant with access to the Diabetes PhysioLab technology and the Diabetes BioCluster. "Platform's distributed computing software allows Entelos to harness underutilized compute power, allowing scientists to run many more simulations and accelerating in silico drug discovery and development. Our joint involvement in the Diabetes Research Forum builds upon our existing, successful relationship," said Alex Bangs, chief technology officer at Entelos. "Platform has brought unparalleled throughput to PhysioLab-based research efforts, and we expect them to bring the same benefits to those pharmaceutical companies participating in the Forum." Entelos' Diabetes PhysioLab will be based on a high-performance compute platform donated by HP known as the Diabetes BioCluster, which comprises 24 four-processor HP AlphaSystem ES40 systems. Platform LSF software will harness all the computing resources within this platform. By leveraging all available CPU cycles, Platform LSF will dramatically increase the speed and efficiency of compute-intensive in silico research and development. "Any combination of variables, including multiple genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, can impact an individual's response to a particular diabetes therapy. One can only imagine the exponential data manipulations that in silico diabetes research must support," said Rene Copeland, vice president, Government and Life Sciences, Platform Computing. "Diabetes continues to take its toll on thousands of people each year, therefore time is of the essence. The ADA's decision to partner with Platform will translate into critical time-savings for life-saving drugs."