Helix Genomics Pvt Ltd (HGPL) has launched academic version of its premiere product suite namely, Biological Operating System (BOS) to facilitate and promote computational research and development activity in the academic institutes like universities, research labs and academic centres promoting biotechnology and life sciences studies.

HGPL CEO Mohan Nimmagadda told Pharmabiz that BOS was launched at an affordable and promotional price for the academia to promote and catalyse the research activity. Describing the software he said, "Biological Operating System (BOS) is carefully designed, developed and implemented as Object Oriented Biological Programming Environment (O2BPE) for addressing the different analytical research queries. BOS is unique, cutting edge and innovative computational platform which is first of its kind in the biological research domain. The advantage lies in its ability to customize and allow the end users, true-component, module and domain-based programming."

Nimmagadda said that BOS had been launched three months back on trial-basis and has found appreciation from both industry and academia. BOS has been extensively validated during this process for more than 1500 man-hours on its features and applications using various in-house and contract research projects like solving of the biological data redundancy problems in public data bases to creation of unique restriction enzyme and oncologically significant novel gene databases.

He said, HGPL received due support from Universities, Institutes and R&D Centres in India and abroad. Institutes, which are using BOS include IISWBM, RSMT and AIB. Negotiations on product licensing and collaboration are at various stages with institutes like University of Hyderbad, CDFD, Rishi Biotech, CiventiChem (North Carolina) UND Life Sciences (USA) etc.

HGPL is based at Hyderabad with branch operations at London, UK, was established in the financial year 2003, and became the first university start up receiving initial angel-seed capital in the filed of computational biology and genomics technologies.