INDUSTRY

UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS -- Glaucus Proteomics BV announced today that it has entered into agreements with SARA, one of Europe's largest supercomputing facilities, and GigaPort, a next generation Internet initiative which provides a state-of-the-art broadband network, both of the Netherlands. These agreements are expected to provide the biocomputing capacity and connectivity to help with the development of novel tools and technologies for high throughput proteomic analysis and the rapid screening of antibody and small molecule drug candidates for improved specificity. Proteins are the main functional components of cells, and understanding how proteins function and their involvement in disease is one of the major challenges facing the life sciences industry today. As the analysis of proteins is complex, Glaucus Proteomics is developing a novel suite of products and technologies, including protein and antibody biochips that will perform this task in a high throughput manner with high sensitivity. "Genomics and proteomics will transform the search for new medicines into an information driven science. In order to understand the causes of human disease, high performance computing is essential and must, therefore, be an integral part of the business strategy of Glaucus Proteomics," stated Prof. Ian Humphery-Smith, Chief Scientific Officer at Glaucus Proteomics. "It is a great privilege to align ourselves with SARA and GigaPort who are able to provide us with the expertise and infrastructure necessary for our I.T. intensive task via an out-sourced, cost-effective and reliable model. These alliances make Glaucus Proteomics an integral part of the SARA supercomputing system. Under the terms of the agreement Glaucus Proteomics will: -- Utilize the capacity of the SGI Origin 3800: TERAS, the national supercomputing facility of the Netherlands. TERAS is a 1024 CPU system consisting of two SGI Origin 3800 512 CPU systems with a maximum performance of 1 Tflop (1012 floating points operations) per second and a number of other high performance computing solutions. -- Tap into already optimized software that is instantly functional, avoiding an otherwise lengthy lag phase linked to making new hardware operational. -- Receive accelerated high-end assistance with parallel code optimization. -- Access remote data back-up infrastructure elsewhere in the Netherlands. -- Obtain remote systems management for Glaucus Proteomics' in-house computing needs. -- Be connected to SARA by the extreme broad-bandwidth of the GigaPort network (SURFnet5). A dedicated dual optic dark fibre to the nearest GigaPort node is in place. Access will now be provided through a 1 Gigabit per second connection, and will be expanded to 10 Gigabit per second. SURFnet5 is considered to be among the world's most advanced research networks. "SARA will provide an important and complementary role as a high-quality service center and provider for bioinformatics," commented Dr. Anwar Osseyran, Managing Director of SARA Computing and Networking Services. "Extraordinary amounts of data are being produced in today's life sciences. Converting data into knowledge and insight requires high-performance computing and advanced visualization techniques, a pre-requisite of the collaboration with Glaucus Proteomics, in order to achieve rapid knowledge discovery in proteomics. Our ability to supply these services has already been demonstrated through our successful operation and support of the national supercomputer of the Netherlands and the operation and support of the GigaPort high-performance research network, one of the fastest research networks in the world." These agreements will allow Glaucus Proteomics to characterize the specificity and cross-reactivity of its collection of fully human antibodies. These antibodies will be an essential element in the antibody arrays currently under development at Glaucus Proteomics and will enable the detection and tracking of human proteins (the proteome) associated with health and disease. Glaucus Proteomics will also identify surrogate biomarker patterns. These are expected to prove useful for building drugs better suited to the needs of individuals rather than populations. Founded in 1971 in the Netherlands, SARA has developed into a national center of expertise in supercomputing, high-performance networking and ICT infrastructure management. SARA supports science and businesses with the processing of large-scale calculations and the visualization of complex data for fundamental and applied scientific research into, amongst others, weather forecasting, environmental research, climate modeling, computational fluid dynamics, chemistry and physics. In 1985 SARA was made responsible for the housing and system management of the Dutch national supercomputer, which is financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). SARA also provides housing for several other supercomputers of Dutch universities. Since the inception of the SURFnet IP network in 1989, SARA has been responsible for the technical and operational management of this broadbandwidth network for the Dutch universities and science centers and educational institutes. From the earliest period SARA has been closely involved in the Internet developments in the Netherlands.