Jova Solutions, Inc. announces the release of FermWorks™ , software that helps biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies streamline the drug discovery process by automating experiment control and managing critical process data.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, August 28, 2002
FermWorks addresses the need for laboratory-wide automation and data management by enabling technicians and researchers to monitor and control a network of bioreactors and associated instruments, and to dramatically increase the scale and efficiency at which laboratories can operate.
FermWorks allows researchers to manage groups of bioreactors, and to apply control strategies to any bioreactor in an experiment. Researchers can quickly redefine configurations, adapt control methodologies from prior experiments to current processes, and compare process performance. FermWorks provides remote networked control and data display to staff within a laboratory or around the world, and is designed for the central storage of all process and configuration data. "Data for each bioreactor can come from any number of sources," says Meg Kay, Managing Architect of FermWorks. "This delivers a very flexible and user-friendly program for improving the efficiency of experiments."
Bioreactors and fermentors play critical roles in the modern laboratory, but their control units typically use rudimentary software. Until now, bioreactors have been monitored individually, which has limited how many could be controlled by each technician. Furthermore, the lack of connection between the bioreactor and a real-time database has left much data underutilized or ignored altogether. The absence of sophisticated automation tools in drug discovery laboratories has slowed the development of new drugs.
According to Jova Solutions President Andrew Johnson, "FermWorks adapts to all of the instruments and sensors used in research and development laboratories. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies can gain significant financial benefits by leveraging investments in existing laboratory hardware and by enabling personnel to do more in less time.
FermWorks was designed in conjunction with research scientists to provide the functionality required at each stage of drug development, from bench-top experiments through full-scale pilot plant operations. The software integrates all sources of data associated with an experiment, and makes the data available to researchers for analysis and future use."
Jova Solutions will install FermWorks systems in four San Francisco Bay Area biotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations during the next six months.
About Jova Solutions
Jova Solutions, Inc. (formerly WireWorks West) develops advanced software solutions for distributed process control and data management for science and industry. Leveraging its proven core platform for process control, it creates software solutions and complementary products that match the business and technical requirements of specific markets. Jova Solutions, founded in 2000 by Martin Vasey and Andrew Johnson, is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
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