WASHINGTON, DC — GlaxoSmithKline will launch an internally developed microarray analysis package to the public for free, and in so doing will apparently become the first pharma to take such a step.

The decision is in stark contrast to strategies at other big pharmas, which have developed their own LIMS or analysis software for strictly internal R&D — a strategy that frustrates some academic researchers who desire that this kind of software be made open-source.