Strand Genomics, a life science knowledge management major in India is a spin-off of the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc), where four of its faculty -- Dr. Vijay Chandru, Dr. Ramesh Hariharan, Dr. Swami Manohar and Dr. V Vinay founded the company in November 2000. The company is a leading provider of custom high-end software products and solutions to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. The company''s business model is a combination of being a high-end services provider and has so far released Sphatika, Soochika, Sarani and Image analysis software, which is a part of Oyster suite.Dr. Srinivasan Seshadri, CEO, Strand Genomics got his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1992. He has been instrumental in architecting and leading the development of several important products for Lucent Technologies. As the CTO of the Network Management Business Unit at Lucent, he was responsible for the product evolution plans as well as strategic relationships. He was also on the faculty of IIT, Bombay for six years before his stint at Lucent. In an interview over e-mail, with Nandita Vijay of Pharmabiz.com, Dr. Seshadri discusses about the technologies in Bioinformatics and on the company''s strengths in the field. Excerpts:

What is the status of the Bioinformatics market in India and abroad?

Bioinformatics is becoming an important and integral component of the pharma-biotech industry providing products, tools and solutions for accelerating drug discovery.

How does the Indian biotech and pharma industry look at Bioinformatics?

There is a lot of interest from the Indian biotech and pharma industry as they recognize the value that Bioinformatics could generate for them. Strand''s collaboration with Clinigene, subsidiary of the Biocon India Group engaged in contract research to identify biomarkers for specific diseases is a good example.

What are the key drivers of success for this segment?

The two most significant drivers are for the segment are good computer science, information technology and mathematical skills apart from expertise in life sciences

What are India''s strengths in the field?

India''s strengths in Bioinformatics is the abundant intellectual capital, availability of talented manpower in Computer Science, Information Technology as well as Life Sciences who are quick to learn and appreciate new areas and also the presence of world class educational institutes in the country.

How has Strand Genomics performed since inception?

Strand has performed very well and has come a long way since its inception in November 2000. Customer base has increased steadily and existing customers satisfaction levels are high and repeat customer business is significant. Strand has released four products Sphatika, Soochika, Sarani and Image analysis software. The microarray suite is ready to hit the international market. Strand Advisory Board has grown steadily and is well recognized by the industry today.

Could you tell us the strengths of the company?

Strand''s strengths encompass speed of execution of projects, high level of customer satisfaction, technology leadership, creation of intellectual property, strong scientific advisory board, innovative employees and short new product development timeline, core competency in life sciences and information technology.

You had mentioned in2001 about launch of Oyster in mid-2002. What is the status?

Oyster is the name for our whole suite of products. Sphatika, Soochika, Sarani and Image analysis software form part of Oyster. Future products will also fall under Oyster.

What has been the acceptance of your two products Sphatika and Soochika in the domestic and international market?

Sphatika has been exclusively licensed to Syrrx, a leader in the area of high throughput crystallography. Soochika is currently being beta tested and has evoked a strong interest in the international market.

Could you tell us how the pharma-biotech sector has responded to your exclusive range of products?

The response has been very good. The pharma-biotech community as also educational institutions has shown a very keen interest in the Strand offerings. Strand has several proprietary techniques which make its products superior to the ones currently available in the market and hence the interest is created for pharma-biotech companies.

What does your company envisage in the wake of the biotech boom especially in Bioinformatics?

What is being observed is that computational sciences have a key role to play in drug discovery. It has the potential to considerably reduce the cost and time of developing a drug.

As a Bioinformatics major, would you consider imparting education in this segment through short-long term courses?

Government of Karnataka has taken initiative and set up IBAB (Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology at Whitefield here in Bangalore to impart quality education in Bioinformatics. Strand will not venture into imparting education in the short term.

Could you give details on the joint ventures with companies in India and abroad except the recent association with Biocon India Group?

Strand is partnering with fc, Automated Cell and Genomics USA. Strand also closely works with Syrrx on several assignments.

Your company has attracted talented young scientists. What do you expect from them?

Our Innovation, technology leadership and creation of Intellectual Property, has been the main attraction for young and talented scientists. The team has top-notch computer science researchers in the areas of graphics and visualization, database management systems, Internet technologies, algorithms and combinatorial optimization --precisely the technologies of interest to biotechnologists. Further, they also have a proven track record of converting their research into products for various US as well as Indian companies. From the youngsters who join Strand, we expect hard work, dedication and sincerity.

What are the future plans you have chalked out for the company?

For the future, it is new products, tools and high-end services to enhance the productivity of drug discovery and development.