MDL Information Systems Inc and pharmaceutical company Zeneca Plc have signed a multi-million dollar software licence agreement. The five year contract gives Zeneca unlimited use of MDL’s Integrated Scientific Information System, as well as other products, services and databases. The agreement replaces a traditional user licence, but MDL is remaining tightlipped on the actual value of the deal. MDL launched ISIS in September 1991 as an information package designed for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries to speed up their research and development efforts. Since then, it has attracted 100 clients from the drugs and chemicals industry. ISIS offers companies a number of features such as a chemical drawing package; an on-line catalogue of chemicals including cost and availibility; a database of chemical reactions; desk top analysis of the properties of existing compounds and those being developed; and it links all parts of the organisation, ensuring every one knows the current state of research. MDL says that in the competitive world of the pharmaceutical industry, speeding up a drug’s journey from drawing board to pharmacy can mean the difference between success and failure. As many drug company’s biggest moneyspinners reach the end of their patent life, the pressure is on to find new drugs. But with most companies being squeezed by governments around the world to price drugs as low as possible, the emphasis is to develop new drugs both cheaply and quickly. ISIS can be customised for different uses; the desktop software runs under Windows and on Macintosh; the server runs under Fujitsu Ltd MSP, IBM Corp AIX, Digital Equipment Corp OpenVMS AXP and VAX, and Silicon Graphics Inc Irix.
