Marketplaces

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Omnexus, an online marketplace for the plastics industry, has launched a new TechCenter that allows customers to submit questions to industry experts from multiple suppliers. Omnexus verifies the experts' credentials, and the supplier companies pay a fee to participate. The center includes an archival database of information and past questions and answers that users can search; experts can also answer questions privately. Initial areas of expertise include injection molding and machinery; applications such as automotive, computer, and information technology systems; and specific plastics including nylon, polycarbonates, and elastomers.

ChemConnect has acquired Altra Energy Technologies' natural gas liquids (NGL) trading platform. The acquisition consolidates trading of feedstocks and related end products on one website and will help broaden market opportunities and information that might be useful in managing financial risks, ChemConnect says. NGL spot and over-the-counter forward trades that its members already make will be supplemented by more than 2,700 monthly Altra NGL transactions. Transactions are expected to include both physical purchases and paper trading of commodities.

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ChemUnity, an e-marketplace turned software provider, has signed agreements with two European companies to add information services and content to its software offerings. One agreement is with GROS, which provides software allowing customers to manage hazardous materials and translate material safety data sheets, product labels, and transportation documents into other languages. The second is with BIG, a spin-off from the Belgian Fire Brigade that helps companies maintain information systems that they can use in case of an incident involving dangerous goods.

SciQuest is now providing a free Buyer's Guide portal that lets researchers search a database of scientific products. Users can create a requisition that they can send by fax directly to suppliers or forward to their own purchasing offices. The electronic catalog includes 1.5 million life sciences products from more than 750 suppliers. The portal includes links to SciQuest's BioSupplyNet vendors listing and SciCentral news and information site.

SeeBeyond is supporting chemical industry XML-based data standards in its e*Xchange Partner Manager software. The partner manager software is a Web-based trading system for automating and managing business relationships. It allows for the administration and tracking of partners' profiles and real-time interaction between an enterprise and its partners, suppliers, and customers. Supporting the standards is essential for information flow and creating business networks, SeeBeyond says.

Donley Technology's annual software survey has found that material safety data sheet systems using Web technologies have increased by 77% over the past two years. About two-thirds of these work on the Internet, while 44% of MSDS software developers offer Web-based software or provide application services. As more chemical suppliers offer their customers electronic alternatives to paper handling, interest in online document retrieval has been growing. Companies are also looking for electronic data storage. Thus, 79% of MSDS software products support the scanning of documents, whereas 64% allow for retrieval of MSDSs via the Internet in different formats. Donley's survey profiles and compares 70 software systems available for MSDS composition, management, and distribution.

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Beckman Coulter is offering an eLabNotebook service on its website. The service gives customers information relating to specific applications of the company's life sciences research products. All materials for an application--such as methods, bulletins, product specifications, troubleshooting information, and frequently asked questions--will be located together. Currently, detailed information on nucleic acid preparation is available, and the company will be adding more related to drug discovery and ranging from basic research through screening.

Eli Lilly and its Lilly ICOS joint venture with ICOS Corp. have finished collecting patient data for their first interactive clinical trial. Data were collected from patients accessing the Magellan trial system through their home computers. The system was developed in collaboration with the San Francisco-based company 1747 Inc., an early investment by the e.Lilly venture fund. The 80-patient Phase III trial was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of Cialis, a Lilly ICOS experimental drug for erectile dysfunction. Happy with its first interactive clinical trial, Lilly intends to apply the technology to other clinical studies.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Sopheon has launched two new subscription-based services. The first is to help companies develop, manage, and commercialize intellectual property. The service features patent analysts and a network of scientific, technical, and industry experts to provide analysis of how users can maximize their return on IP investments. The analysis includes the commercial viability of IP, information for formulating patent strategies, and approaches for commercialization. The software and services company has centers in Minneapolis and Frankfurt where its analysts have access to search tools, methodology for analysis, patent-intelligence sources, and a network of experts in more than 30,000 areas of science and technology, Sopheon says. Its second new offering will provide expert technical and business analysis, along with an online research portal, to support decision-making in product development. It includes idea-generation sessions with experts; market and technology assessments; patentability analyses; and appraisals of regulatory, environmental, safety, and supply chain issues. Users also can have desktop access to relevant markets, technology, competitor information, and news. Sopheon's revenues grew 80% in 2001 to about $19.9 million. However, its net loss nearly tripled to $49.3 million.

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