ATLANTA--Ben-Abraham Technologies, a biotechnology company here involved in the development of nanoparticulate technology, will decide within the next few months if it will start a bioinformatics department, according to Claus Wagner-Bartak, the firm's chief operating officer. Ben-Abraham is considering making the move as part of a general expansion of its biotechnology research and development efforts.
"There's a need for it," Wagner-Bartak said of a bioinformatics department. He noted that having a database of biological information would make it easier for the company to submit drugs for approval to the US Food and Drug Administration, and also enhance efforts to win strategic partners. At least at first, any new bioinformatics capabilities would likely be staffed with existing employees and its hardware needs handled by existing systems, Wagner-Bartak added.
In other news, the company recently named Edward Rosenow to its board of directors. Rosenow is the former chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Mayo Clinic.