Spotfire Unveils DecisionSite for Microarray Analysis

SOMERVILLE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 2005--

New analytics software complements DecisionSite and DecisionSite for Functional Genomics to provide a full suite of GeneChip-compatible(TM) analytic functionality for microarray expression analysis

“Combining Spotfire's intuitive data visualization with Insightful's robust statistical methods allows a broad range of Affymetrix users to get the most from their microarray data”

Spotfire, Inc., a market leader in visual analytics for business decision-making, today announced DecisionSite(R) for Microarray Analysis (DSMA), which gives drug makers a competitive advantage in quickly and accurately identifying potential drug targets. DSMA, available exclusively from Spotfire, provides pharmaceutical researchers with unprecedented depth of functionality for conducting gene expression analysis within Spotfire's flagship interactive, visual analytics software. The product is the first combined solution resulting from Spotfire's recently announced framework agreement with Insightful(R) Corporation (NASDAQ: IFUL).

DSMA combines with Spotfire's market leading DecisionSite and DecisionSite for Functional Genomics (DSFG), offering academic labs, core facilities and large pharmaceutical research organizations a full spectrum of analysis capabilities for quickly and accurately identifying potential drug targets through more effective microarray analysis.

"Pharmaceutical researchers in the commercial and academic markets are generating data faster than their ability to effectively analyze it," commented Christopher Ahlberg, Spotfire CEO. "Microarray providers, such as Affymetrix, are developing and deploying technologies that are providing information-rich descriptions of genetic experiments. The process of discovery has the dual challenge of requiring sophisticated tools to solve complex problems and the need for intuitive applications to allow researchers to ask and answer questions at the speed of thought. Our DSMA offering uniquely meets this requirement--power in an easy-to-use, visual, intuitive application."

In a report recently published by the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (http://www.spotfire.com/review/), Spotfire DecisionSite's ease-of-use and depth-of-functionality in the analysis of microarray data were independently validated: "Insight value was the highest for Spotfire. Participants using Spotfire gained significantly more insight value than with competing gene expression analysis products. Similarly, the count of insights was higher for Spotfire than any of the other vendors evaluated. Participants felt that they learned the most from the data using Spotfire."

"Combining Spotfire's intuitive data visualization with Insightful's robust statistical methods allows a broad range of Affymetrix users to get the most from their microarray data," stated Steve Lincoln, vice president of informatics at Affymetrix. "We are pleased to welcome Spotfire into our GeneChip-compatible(TM) Application Program, and our customers will no doubt appreciate the tight integration and convenient workflow that has been achieved between Spotfire and Affymetrix." Both DecisionSite for Microarray Analysis and Spotfire's DecisionSite for Functional Genomics have achieved GeneChip-compatible(TM) status.

About DecisionSite(R) for Microarray Analysis

Microarray analysis continues to evolve based on new technology platforms, analysis techniques and methods for refining lists of prospective gene targets. DecisionSite for Microarray Analysis provides a comprehensive set of data access, processing, normalization and analysis methods for data derived from both Affymetrix GeneChip(R) and 2-channel array technologies. Users can move freely between either technology as required by the analysis. Built-in quality assurance capabilities provide fast filtering of the data to limit the results set used in further analysis and remove potential bias. Analysis is driven forward through a series of Spotfire DecisionSite Guides that allow the user to choose from a number of advanced analysis paths that include methods of expression summarization, pattern detection, and multifactor ANOVA.

DecisionSite for Microarray Analysis is the only enterprise class commercial product for microarray analysis that combines the ease of use of interactive, visual analysis with the power of statistical analysis driven by a wide range of methods for processing data from a variety of array technologies and experimental designs.

Utilizing DSMA with DSFG

DSMA and DSFG each feature Spotfire's interactive, visual analysis and are both built upon Spotfire's comprehensive platform for application extension and development. When purchased with the DecisionSite(R) Analytic Server, which includes Spotfire's Computation Services framework, users of both DSFG and DSMA can configure and extend these offerings by deploying custom algorithms to meet the needs of a variety of research users. Spotfire's Computation Services framework supports the R Open Source Bioconductor libraries for gene expression analysis as well as the full suite of algorithms and libraries from commercial users of Insightful's S-Plus and SAS.

DSMA offers to power users' additional computational functionality used and accepted in gene expression analysis such as import and processing of Affymetrix CEL and CHP files; CEL file processing with RMA and GCRMA algorithms; incorporation of advanced clustering methods; multifactor ANOVA to support complex experimental design with error correction; flexibility in handling and comparing different array technologies; and the ability to easily arrange a sequence of steps into guided workflows that can be reused and distributed. New users can license the full DSMA application directly from Spotfire. Existing users of Spotfire's DSFG can upgrade those licenses to obtain the new functionality offered by DSMA. Spotfire will also be offering DecisionSite for Microarray Analysis through its Academic program.

About Spotfire, Inc.

Spotfire(R), Inc. provides interactive, visual data analytics applications and services that empower enterprises and their end-users to improve operational performance and gain an information advantage over the competition. Over 25,000 users in close to 1,000 organizations around the world use Spotfire DecisionSite(R) to drive confident decision-making by quickly and easily spotting trends, outliers and unanticipated relationships in critical business data. The company maintains U.S. headquarters in Somerville, Mass., and European headquarters in Goteborg, Sweden. Additional information can be found at: http://www.spotfire.com.

Spotfire and DecisionSite are registered trademarks of Spotfire, Inc. Affymetrix(R) and GeneChip(R) are trademarks owned or used by Affymetrix, Inc. Other company or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.