Persistent invests in personalised medicine

Persistent Systems, a player in software product development services, has announced that the firm is partnering with Life Technologies Corporation, a global biotechnology tools company providing premier systems, consumables, and services in the molecular research and diagnostics space.

As part of the collaboration, Persistent said it will be co-investing with the Fragment and Sequence Genomics (FSG) division of Life Technologies to build sequencing and fragment analysis software platform.

The platform will be used for capillary electrophoresis instrumentation that will be submitted for FDA clearance or approval. According to the company, the solution represents an advanced genomic technology for clinics taking a step towards making personalised medicine a reality to combat critical human diseases like cancer. 

Persistent Systems will be working with Life Technologies to develop an integrated interpretation software and hardware solution that will intelligently use sequencing technology to analyse patient DNA samples through advanced, user-friendly software. As a technology partner, Persistent Systems will also be providing services to integrate assays from third party vendors.

"Today, molecular diagnostics is expanding beyond just the identification of infections and is recognised as an integral part of disease management and therapy. It is increasingly seen as the fastest growing segment in the in-vitro-diagnostics space with a market share predicted to reach 18 per cent by 2014," Persistent said in an official statement. "We are delighted to partner with Life Technologies in the personalised medicine and molecular diagnostics space. We believe that molecular diagnostics is an essential step to move towards personalised medicine and is vital for the future of healthcare industry. The diagnostics market holds great promise in the coming years and we are excited to extend our technology expertise and support to develop applications that are critical for saving lives," said Anand Deshpande, chairman and managing director, Persistent Systems.