Spotfire Inc announced an agreement with Applied Biosystems, an Applera Corporation business that is expected to help life science companies streamline the study of human gene expression by combining Spotfire data visualization and Guided Analytics with the Applied Biosystems Expression Array System, the most sensitive system for whole-genome expression analysis, a company release said.

Applied Biosystems will build value-added analysis capabilities on top of the DecisionSite platform in the form of DecisionSite Guides. Applied Biosystems will offer 90-day evaluation licenses of Spotfire DecisionSite for Functional Genomics software with its newly released Expression Array System to give customers a more comprehensive analytic capability for microarray research.

Gene expression analysis is a large, fast-growing application within molecular biology research and pharmaceutical development. The Applied Biosystems Expression Array System provides highly sensitive gene expression detection capabilities that can detect up to 40 per cent more genes compared to traditional fluorescent microarray systems, together with the most thoroughly annotated transcript data sets available.

Researchers can use the solution to visually and statistically interrogate differentially expressed genes. DecisionSite's easy-to-configure Guided Analytics make it easy to access and associate the system's rich set of annotations with gene expression patterns. The combined technologies enable scientists to more quickly understand the scientific relevance of a broader range of low to highly expressed genes en route to making scientific discoveries and developing new drugs, the release says.

"The study of gene expression, from whole-genome analysis to gene quantification and single-gene analysis, has required multiple technologies that have not been well integrated until recently," said Michael W. Hunkapiller, president of Applied Biosystems. "With this agreement, we can now offer customers a richer toolset for analyzing genes for researchers involved in basic research, drug target validation, and pre-clinical drug development," he added.

Spotfire DecisionSite for Functional Genomics is an analytic application that guides pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic research groups through the process of quickly finding and categorizing important genes and gene expression patterns. Its interactive, integrative analysis environment incorporates high-impact visualization capabilities that let users examine the expression and annotation dimensions of their data and perform a wide array of numerical analyses.

"We are pleased to be aligned with Applied Biosystems as it expands its footprint in the gene expression analysis market with the introduction of the Expression Array System. Spotfire DecisionSite for Functional Genomics is already in use by thousands of researchers conducting gene expression analysis," said Christopher Ahlberg, CEO of Spotfire. "By combining these technologies, researchers engaged in microarray analysis will be able to conduct more comprehensive analysis in less time," he said.

The 90-day evaluation licenses of DecisionSite for Functional Genomics are available from Applied Biosystems when customers license the Expression Array System. Upon completion of the evaluation, DecisionSite for Functional Genomics may be licensed directly from Spotfire.