Asterand, 5AM To Develop New Biobanking Software
Detroit-based Asterand plc (LSE:ATD), a provider of human tissues and related services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and 5AM Solutions, a life science technology firm, announced they have agreed to develop next generation virtual biobanking software for exclusive use by Asterand and its collaborators.
The aim of the project is to enable broad access to geographically distinct biospecimen resources in an easy to use manner, thereby accelerating discovery in human disease research.
The companies will share development costs to build software providing a standardized system for the identification, annotation and distribution of human biological materials for use in research. Asterand and 5AM will electronically link disparate biobanks to Asterand's centralized biobanking operations in Detroit. The proprietary software will enable Asterand to garner biospecimen and data requirements from researchers and query partner biobanks for appropriate specimens. Once identified, specimens will be selected and qualified for distribution by Asterand.
Said Victoria Blanc, Asterand's vice president of strategic planning and government affairs: "Our customers require large numbers of highly annotated biological specimens. We believe that this software will assist us to meet this demand by allowing us to have vision into an ever-increasing network of sophisticated biobanks. 5AM Solutions has a proven track record of delivering scientifically driven software solutions to meet the needs of researchers across sectors."
Added 5AM CEO Brent Gendleman: "Asterand has a global reach and a critical mission to expand access to high quality human tissue. They are the perfect partner to assist us in our goal to revolutionize the way scientists acquire biospecimens and data needed to decrease the timeline for meaningful results. Together we will create the platform required to link distant biorepositories into a virtual bank and enable controlled access to specimens for research."
More at www.Asterand.com.
