Computational biology company Genedata today announces the global expansion of their collaboration with ALTANA Pharma to provide enterprise-wide scientific computing infrastructure for ALTANA's research programs in Constance, Germany and in Waltham, Massachusetts. "With Genedata we gain valuable bioinformatics expertise managed according to a proven collaborative framework," says Vice President of Discovery Research Dr. Ulrich Thibaut. Dr. Thibaut oversaw signing of the original license for Genedata's scientific computing platform five years ago. "Genedata has brought together and enhanced the best aspects of our research programs on each side of the Atlantic." "We are pleased that ALTANA sees the value of our collaboration to their research efforts," says Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., CEO of Genedata. "The product of our work so far is a computa-tional platform tailored to ALTANA's research needs. Today's announcement signals ALTANA's ongoing endorsement of our approach to a fruitful partnership in drug discovery." The collaboration spans ALTANA's research in target identification and validation, and lead discovery. Target validation is a major focus at the ALTANA Research Institute (ARI) in Waltham. Dr. Klaus Melchers, ARI's Vice President and Chief Operating Officer describes Genedata's work there. "With Genedata's platform we have a unified computational system that facilitates data and result sharing between our research sites. Genedata's computational scientists are based on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure its smooth operation and to evolve the platform according to our needs." Genedata's work at each ALTANA research site embodies a unique approach to meeting specific needs in computer supported drug discovery and development. Whether identifying and validating targets or exploring potential lead candidates, results are placed in a rich biological context of structured and high quality proprietary and public knowledge and analysed using Genedata's proprietary algorithms. Tied with the expertise of its global team of cross-discipline scientists Genedata's computational platform constitutes a high power, high-throughput solution for the innovative leaders in drug discovery. www.genedata.com