Invitrogen Ranked Top Supplier in Drug Discovery Market

Invitrogen Corporation (NASDAQ:IVGN) is the company that scientists most closely associate with products and services for drug discovery research. Amersham Biosciences ranked second and was also considered a leader in the market for bioassays.

Invitrogen Ranked Top Supplier in Drug Discovery Market

ARLINGTON, VA – June 7, 2002 – Invitrogen Corporation (NASDAQ:IVGN) is the company that scientists most closely associate with products and services for drug discovery research. Amersham Biosciences ranked second and was also considered a leader in the market for bioassays.

These findings were uncovered in a multi-part survey of more than 1,700 scientists engaged in drug discovery research. Today BioInformatics, LLC (Arlington, VA), a leading provider of market research to the biotechnology industry, announced the publication of six reports in its series, The Tools & Techniques of Drug Discovery." Seven separate surveys of researchers were conducted to produce six integrated reports that investigate every facet of the drug discovery market.

Many market research reports about the life sciences industry are only based on the observations of a few industry analysts who rely heavily on secondary information, such as annual reports and corporate press releases," notes Bill Kelly, President of BioInformatics. We believe that to truly understand a market you need to hear from the people who are the market – the scientists that are purchasing and using the products that drive drug discovery. By looking at this market in terms of six specific product categories, our study provides a much clearer picture as to where suppliers can improve technologies to help get promising compounds through the drug pipeline faster."

In addition to market leaders, Invitrogen and Amersham Biosciences, other suppliers also fared well in the product categories studied. Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), InforMax (NASDAQ:INMX), Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFY), Molecular Devices (NASDAQ:MDCC) and Bruker Analytik were considered the top suppliers in the DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, DNA microarray, high-throughput screening, and nuclear magnetic resonance segments, respectively.

This past April, multiple questionnaires were fielded to qualified members of The Science Advisory Board – the worlds largest online panel of scientific customers. All participants in this study were first required to participate in a 14-question benchmarking survey designed to identify the particular applications, diseases and biological processes studied as well as the techniques and equipment used in their drug discovery research. This baseline data allowed the use of specific technologies and products to be viewed within the context of the drug discovery process. According to Kelly, Drug discovery is becoming highly integrated, and so is the market for products and instruments used by pharmaceutical scientists." Based on their responses to the initial survey, the participating scientists were then channeled to the product-specific questionnaires that reflected their expertise.

The results of this benchmarking survey can be downloaded for free at http://www.gene2drug.com/.

The six reports in The Tools & Techniques of Drug Discovery" can be purchased as a set or as individual reports. Each report provides detailed data on product usage and applications, most important product features, preferred suppliers, definitions of product quality, levels of satisfaction with current products and the unmet needs of pharmaceutical scientists. These shared experiences and perceptions offer great insights to the markets suppliers. For example, in the survey on DNA sequencing, researchers complained that the average read length" of their sequencing runs is too short. Short read lengths not only create a great deal of redundancy and hence escalate sequencing costs by requiring more runs per experiment, but they also increase the complexity of the data obtained and thus also raise bioinformatics costs," explains Tamara Zemlo, PhD who oversees the activities of The Science Advisory Board.

The scientists surveyed would also like to expand the capabilities of their existing software programs by having bioinformatics suppliers institute better integration of multiple data sources (e.g., genomics, proteomics, expression, pathways, etc.). The respondents noted that uptime" would be the most significant improvement to their labs bioinformatics hardware. Uptime, which translates into reliability, availability and serviceability, has become a major focus of drug discovery labs because it enables them to efficiently process and analyze the vast amounts of data that they collect on a daily basis," maintains Zemlo.

In the third of the six surveys, almost half of those scientists using microarrays expressed a desire for better quality control over the production of microarrays. Not only do researchers expect consistency from spot-to-spot on a single microarray, they also expect it from microarray-to-microarray," asserts Zemlo. For both in vitro protein and cell-based assays, scientists that participated in the survey on bioassays are looking for simplified procedures that are less labor intensive," explains Zemlo, and homogenous formats, which minimize washing and mixing steps, are therefore much more popular." In another survey, researchers engaged in high-throughput screening expect that their microplate readers, above all else, should be both reliable and sensitive. "Microplate readers are not only seen as a means to increase a labs throughput capacity, but also as a time-saving and cost-effective investment that minimizes a scientists involvement thereby reducing human error," explains Zemlo.

In assessing the findings of the surveys, Kelly concludes, The drug discovery market is one characterized by convergence — a blurring of distinctions between previously well-defined scientific disciplines, between market segments and even between competitors. Our goal is to reduce the level of uncertainty among life science suppliers by providing them with insights from the scientists who rely upon their products and services. Our reports reflect the markets integration and give our clients the most comprehensive overview of the tools and techniques currently in use, while highlighting problem areas that represent the most exciting opportunities."

ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS, LLC

BioInformatics, LLC is a market research firm located in Arlington, Virginia. BioInformatics supports marketing, sales and R&D executives in the life science, medical device and pharmaceutical industries through published research reports, custom research and consulting. BioInformatics sponsors The Science Advisory Board, an online panel of more than 12,100 scientists, physicians and other life science and medical professionals from 62 countries who participate in surveys that address emerging technologies, test customer reactions to new product concepts, measure brand awareness and assess advertising effectiveness.

FOR A COMPLIMENTARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ANY REPORT PLEASE VISIT HTTP://WWW.GENE2DRUG.COM/PUBLISHED OR CONTACT:

Alyssa Martin
BioInformatics, LLC
2111 Wilson Blvd. Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22201
703.525.3872 x358 phone
703.522.3685 fax
a.martin@gene2drug.com
http://www.gene2drug.com/