Cranes Software International, a global scientific and engineering solutions provider has initiated talks with research institutes in the country including the CSIR labs for its product SigmaPlot in Medical and Pharmaceutical Research.

The company has global installations at Pfizer, Novartis and Bayer. Its customers list includes Monsanto, Wockhardt, Orchid Chemicals and Nicholas Piramal.

"The key objective of market expansion is to tap the research institutions so as to increase the user-base. The advanced software for scientific research in its version 9.01 has been designed specifically to maximise the research. The software simplifies collection, analysis and presentation of data as per global regulatory requirements," Rajashekhar Rao, product manager, Cranes Software International.

In March 2006, the company will introduce Ver.10.01 which will have additional features including enzyme kinetics, electrophysiology and ligand binding. These extra features have been included after inputs from the market, added Rao.

SigmaPlot 9.01 is an advanced technical graphing programme designed for the Windows platform. It is easy for researchers to present their findings accurately with the built-in precise, publication-quality graphs, data analysis and presentation tools. Other scientific options include automatic error bars, regression lines, confidence intervals, axis breaks, technical axis scales, non-linear curve fitting and a data worksheet for powerful data handling, explained KN Amarnath, assistant manager, marketing services, Cranes Software International.

Application of SigmaPlot in pharmaceutical research includes cell biology, chemotherapy, antibiotics and gene therapy, anaesthesia and molecular pharmacology.

SigmaPlot in medical research is utilised for physiology, haemostasis, thrombosis and vascular biology and cancer research. Its can also be used for technical graphing and data analysis in life sciences (anthropology to zoology), chemistry, physics, pharmacology, engineering and environmental science, apart from medical research.

The marketable version of the software was developed by a team of 112 software engineers at Bangalore after the company acquired SPSS, US the original developers of the software code in 2004. The software is priced at $500 per license.

The $38 million Cranes was set-up in 1991 and SigmaPlot was recognised among the top five global products by Scientific Computing & Instrumentation, US.