US bio-IT outfit Tripos sets up shop in Aust

US bioinformatics software and discovery research company Tripos has reacted to the expanding Australian life science sector by setting up a direct presence here for the first time.

Tripos has a 20-year history of developing innovative computational solutions for drug discovery research and counts CSIRO among its major clients in Australia but until this year relied on distributors to handle its products here.

It has now established a headquarters in Brisbane, seen by Tripos as one of Australia's two current biotech hotspots (the other being Melbourne), according to senior account manager for Australia and New Zealand, Dr James Robertson.

Tripos' products and services embrace discovery software, chemical screening libraries, discovery research and software consulting services. None of its current products compete directly with offerings from Australian-owned bioinformatics companies, Robertson said.

Tripos software offerings cover a broad area but two Australian demand hotspots are combinatorial chemistry and virtual screening products, Robertson said.

Popular with small Australian biotechs are its LeadQuest and LeadScreen offerings for companies looking for quick, economical ways to screen compounds of interest against a ready-made library of drug-like compounds.

One of its newer services, for which Tripos is seeing some Australian interest, is a software consulting service that builds intranet platforms that integrate data generated in different scientific environments across an organisation.