REDWOOD CITY, California, February 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ingenuity(R) Systems, a leading provider of information and analytics solutions for life science researchers, today announced a research collaboration with Covance Genomics Laboratory (www.covance.com/cgl) for next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis. Covance Genomics Laboratory, a leading provider of genomics solutions for the drug discovery and development industry, and Ingenuity will work together to develop new and novel approaches, using Ingenuity's IPA(R) software, to obtain more actionable insights from NGS data and to answer research questions in a relevant biological context.

This collaboration brings together leaders in genomics data production and analysis to develop new methodologies that integrate high-quality NGS data with industry-leading knowledge generation and management tools. By working together to generate the next generation of biological interpretation tools, Covance Genomics Laboratory will have the unique ability to help its pharmaceutical clients maximize the value of their investment in NGS technologies. IPA relieves the NGS data analysis bottleneck by providing the biological context necessary to move past the long noisy lists of genes, isoforms, and variants, helping to uncover those that are most critical to biology. This enables researchers to quickly get to the intended high-value results of biomarker identification, target ID and validation, understanding drug mechanism of action, and safety assessment.

"We're delighted that Covance has selected IPA for its NGS workflows," said Doug Bassett, Ph.D., CSO and CTO, Ingenuity Systems. "We've been involved in several NGS collaborations recently, and our partnership with Covance, a leading drug development services company, represents another powerful validation of IPA's value in the NGS space. It is exciting to see IPA being used to accelerate and inform so much groundbreaking research."

Having run more than 450,000 samples to date, Covance Genomics Laboratory provides end-to-end services for genomics-based development research and has demonstrated particular expertise in NGS. "The complexity of next-generation sequencing data can be a challenge to translational science and medicine," stated Tom Turi, Vice President, Science & Technology, Covance Discovery & Translational Services. "We're confident the combination of our best-in-class genomics data and the high-quality biological content and context provided by IPA will result in the delivery of more rapid, accurate, and thorough research services for our customers."