The document discusses Strand Genomics Inc., which offers genomic analysis and clinical interpretation software and services. It focuses on personalized medicine by using its StrandOmics platform to analyze genomic data and determine disease risks for individuals. StrandOmics aims to make genomic testing routine in medical care to help clinicians make more informed decisions. Strand has grown to over 200 scientists and serves over 2,000 labs and 100,000 patients. Its partnership with Health Care Global Enterprises successfully piloted cancer risk assessment and molecular diagnosis for over 50 patients in India.

1. | |july 2014
42CIOReview
The Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences sector is going
through a positive metamorphosis due to the confluence
of the biological science and information technology. The
industry is changing its game plan by dropping old legacy
systems and adapting newer technologies. This gradual
transformation is characterized by simplified operating
environments and access to real-time information through
multiple channels. The changing customer demographics
and the omniscient internet and mobility are transforming
commercial operations; the way customers interact and
collaborate. Technology solutions are helping organizations
make digital shift seamless and deliver results with a mix
of analytics, cross-channel interaction, and customized
messaging. This has resulted in pharmaceutical companies
exploring for new strategies and innovations.
There is also a gradual shift in the economic flow chart,
depicting the ingress of many unique challenges arising
from the macro-economic, demographic and industry-
specific factors. Today, products are losing patents due
to shortened pipelines and tight deadline issues. There
is an increased pressure on pharmaceutical industry to
curtail the cost of R&D, in order to bring products faster
into market amidst heightened government regulations.
Expectations are also rising, with patients given a higher
stake in health management decisions and treatment
regimes. Many consulting companies are assisting the
Pharmaceutical sector in order to strike the right balance
when it comes to treating these constantly aggravating
issues. These companies act as the propeller to help
their clients approach the right technology markets by
making efficient business decisions and cost models,
with a healthy dose of enterprise-wide innovations. As
the search for efficiency continues, pharma companies
are exploring for newer options in terms of technological
solutions and consultant services for externalization,
collaboration and consumerization to drive the future
R&D.
In this edition of CIO Review, we bring to you “20
Most Promising Solution and Consulting providers to
Pharma and Life Science 2014”, featuring the best vendors
and consultants providing technology and services
to the Pharmaceutical and Life Science industry. The
companies featured have showcased extensive business
process knowledge, in-depth integrated and innovative
strategies combined with talent base across locations.
A distinguished panel comprising of CEOs, CIOs,
VCs and analysts including the CIO Review editorial
board have selected the top companies that are at the
forefront of tackling challenges in the Pharmaceutical
and Life Sciences market in the U.S.
CIOREVIEW.COMJULY - 2014Pharma and Life Sciences TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL
T h e N a v i g a t o r f o r E n t e r p r i s e S o l u t i o n s
Company:
Strand Genomics Inc
Discription:
Offers decision support
products and services for
physicians, biologists, chemists
and toxicologists
Key Person:
Vijay Chandru, Ph.D,
Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO
Website:
www.strandgenomics.com
ChristoJacob
Managing Editor
Strand Genomics Inc
recognized by magazine as
Editor-in-Chief
Pradeep Shankar
An annual listing of the top companies that are in the forefront of tackling
challenges in the Pharma & Life Sciences sector and impacting the marketplace
20 Most Promising Tech Solution Providers to Pharma and Life Sciences Industry

2. | |july 2014
43CIOReview
| |july 2014
54CIOReview
T
he implications of the world’s largest collaborative
biological project in the year 2000—the Human Genome
Project-combined with the Big Data revolution in the
medical sciences holds out tremendous promise for human
health. Recognizing the imminent need for the next generation of
bioinformatics and genomics tools, four academic entrepreneurs
from the prestigious Indian Institute of Science co-founded Strand
Genomics Inc. (Strand). “Our focus is on personalized clinical
genomics and molecular diagnostics.
To address the grand challenge of the
“$1000 genome and million dollar
interpretation”, we have developed a
clinical genomics interpretation and
reporting platform, StrandOmics,”
says Vijay Chandru, Ph.D, Co-founder,
Chairman and CEO, Strand.
The StrandOmics platform works
toward a world where one can foresee
and possibly mitigate the occurrence
of diseases that are either inherited or
are at a major risk of developing. By
focusing on clinical interpretation and
reporting of genomic data, we can scan
an individual’s genomic information and
determine the likelihood of a person developing certain diseases,”
says Chandru.
The core architecture of Strand’s products is a proprietary
platform called AVADISTM
, an acronym for Access, Visualize,
Analyze, DIScover. These products include GeneSpring—a
product for integrated biological research, StrandNGSTM
—a
pipeline package for Next Generation Sequencing data analysis
from raw DNA sequence data alignment to variant calling and
biological interpretation, iManageTM
—a tool for large-scale
biological image management, and a Virtual Liver to enable in
silico toxicity screening.
The company’s GrammaticaTM
is a proprietary natural
language processing engine honed for the last 8 years for text
written in English. A dedicated team of over 45 scientists and
clinicians manually curate the consolidated information read
from Medline/Pubmed abstracts and full-length research articles
into Strand’s proprietary database. This has enabled Strand
to build a knowledge base of clinically relevant variants at a
rate of 10,000 new variant references per month. Based on the
proprietary platform’s streamlined report generation, pathologists
and physicians can make diagnoses
and informed treatment decisions by
combining the patient’s biology with the
biological mechanisms of available drugs
and those in ongoing clinical trials.
Strand has organically grown
in the computational biology and
bioinformatics sector, with more than
200 multi disciplinary scientists working
together with an appreciation for both
laboratory processes and the software
development life cycle.
The company’s clientele comprise of
more than 2,000 academic and pharma
labs, molecular diagnostics and pathology
labs, community hospitals and oncology
centers offering clinical genomics diagnostics which serve over
100,000 patients. The largest commercial adoption of genomics
for tumor profiling in the world emerged from a unique case
study conducted by Strand’s partnership with Health Care Global
Enterprises in India. Using Strand’s clinical genomics solutions
for oncology, which includes both cancer risk assessment from
saliva DNA as well as molecular diagnosis, Strand and HCG
together ran a pilot program on over 50 samples to demonstrate
value to clinicians and patients. The results are very successful
and HCG is in the process of making this profiling the standard of
care for breast, ovarian, colorectal and lung cancers.
Strand’s NGS-based clinical diagnostics tests for cancer,
cardiovascular and other diseases are driving the innovation to
reduce costs and turnaround times by automating through the
StrandOmics platform. “Strand is focused on fundamentally
changing the diagnostics and treatment landscape. Our aim is
to make genomic testing a part of routine medical care, thereby
empowering clinicians to make more informed decisions and
offering physicians, short and personalized patient reports,”
concludes Dr. Chandru.
Strandisfocusedonfundamentally
changingthediagnosticsand
treatmentlandscape
Strand Genomics Inc.
Genomic Insights for Personalized Medical
Diagnostics and Therapies
Vijay Chandru