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PRINCETON, NJ -- Physiome Sciences, Inc. and 3rd Millennium Inc. have announced that 3rd Millennium licensed the PathwayPrism(TM) biological modeling technology to use in conjunction with data integration technology it is developing through its Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grant. The combination of these technologies will enable 3rd Millennium and its academic collaborators to visualize and simulate pathways and associated networks related to Huntington's disease. "We know from our work with researchers in industry and academia that there is tremendous excitement regarding the use of computers to organize, test, extend and communicate -- through pathways models -- the biological knowledge related to particular disease processes and other related biological phenomena," said Richard Dweck, president of 3rd Millennium Inc. "The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded us an ATP grant because it recognized the broad benefits to researchers from the ability to utilize fully new and growing data sources within the context of pathway models. We chose Physiome's technology after a thorough review because it represents the best method for building, visualizing, and simulating disease pathways like Huntington's. We are looking forward to a very productive relationship." In work funded through a two year, $1.8 million ATP grant, 3rd Millennium has developed technology to store and integrate many types of biological data along with their biological context. This capability provides the foundation for computer modeling of networks of biological pathways by tying together the context of the organs, tissues, and cells with gene expression, interaction, and functional data. PathwayPrism is critical technology designed to visualize, integrate, simulate and annotate molecular interactions in cell signaling. In its collaboration with academic researchers, 3rd Millennium will use PathwayPrism technology to represent these integrated data and knowledge of Huntington's disease in computer models. It will also utilize these combined technologies to simulate and calculate pathways, and validate current knowledge about related pathways as new data types and sources become available. "We are delighted to be working with 3rd Millennium," said Dr. Jeremy Levin, president and CEO at Physiome Sciences. "It is our hope that this work will further the understanding of important biological paradigms in hereditary diseases. This use of our technology is another example of how our computational modeling technology can be used to approach the challenges of disease research." Huntington's disease was chosen because of the wealth of publicly available data that can be used with these technologies to document and extend current knowledge about the disease. Huntington's disease is a fatal, autosomal dominant neurological illness causing involuntary movements, severe emotional disturbance and cognitive decline. It usually strikes in mid-life, in the thirties or forties, although it can also attack children and the elderly. There is no treatment to halt the inexorable progression, which leads to death after ten to twenty-five years. In the United States, the prevalence of the disease is about 10 cases per 100,000 people -- about 30,000 people in all. There are another 150,000 people at risk. With knowledge of current protein-protein interactions and cellular behavior, Physiome Sciences' PathwayPrism technology allows the mapping, modeling, and simulation of signal transduction pathways, biochemical pathways and diseases. The models enable researchers to generate new insights and rapidly test new hypotheses through targeted wet bench experiments. All these models are web-enabled and use the XML based mark-up language CellML(TM) (http://www.CellML.org), permitting transfer to others working on similar or related problems, and give researchers the ability to integrate qualitative and quantitative data, modify and update pathways and access public databases. Researchers can also use these models to simulate and explore experimental conditions used in a number of areas including drug target validation and toxicological studies. For more information visit www.3rdmill.com or www.physiome.com