INDUSTRY

Genomatica, Inc., a leading in silico systems biology company, announced today it has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant from National Human Genome Research Institute branch (NHGRI) of the National Institute of Health (NIH). The two year award for approximately $765,000 will further support the Company's program to integrate high throughput experimental data with its computer models of cellular metabolism. This research will have potential commercial applications in a number of areas of biological discovery including bioprocess development and pharmaceutical drug discovery and development. "We are excited to receive this Phase II continuation award from the NIH who maintain their support for modeling and simulation technologies," said Christophe Schilling, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer of Genomatica and Principal Investigator for the grant. "In the Phase I effort, Genomatica successfully demonstrated the use of its models of cellular metabolism to predict gene expression patterns in yeast, an important research organism. The Phase II effort will further illustrate the power of systems biology and the use of computational metabolic models for the visualization, analysis and integration of gene expression data. Most importantly, this program will yield product and technology enhancements that will have an immediate and broad positive impact for our clients across the academic, industrial and medical biotechnology communities." The NIH SBIR program is a peer-reviewed grant program that provides research support to small businesses to discover and develop innovative technologies and methodologies that have the potential for commercialization and public benefit.