Red Herring reports that Microsoft has established
a BioIT initiative with Affymetrix, Accelrys, Applied Biosystems, Scripps Institute and other partners to facilitate collaborative drug development. The ultimate goal is to promote efficient processes for personalized therapies. (
Red Herring's article also points out the "pragmatic altruism" involved, since Microsoft Office, Windows Presentation, and SharePoint, would be a key part of the platform.)
But the project's worthy goal is a platform that would make it easier and more efficient for drug development specialists, wherever they're based, to transfer information.
In a recent
survey by Ken Morris and Conformia, published in
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, data access and transfer, and knowledge management, were cited as a major drawback to new drug applications.