Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop next-generation lab software solutions on Microsoft platform

Thermo Fisher Scientific has established a working relationship with Microsoft aimed at developing next-generation laboratory knowledge management solutions designed to move science forward at an accelerated rate.

The products will be built on Microsoft's technology platform and will be aimed at increasing laboratory productivity will less risk and superior user experience.

Thermo Fisher has already developed Darwin LIMS, its purpose-built laboratory information management system (LIMS) for pharmaceutical manufacturing r&d and QA/QC, on the Microsoft.NET platform. In addition, SampleManager LIMS, Thermo Fisher's product for process industries, is now supported on the SQL server, providing customers with a choice of databases.

The two companies are working together to continue to provide customers with end-to-end solutions for data acquisition storage and analysis. Thermo Fisher is now working on a new Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) solution that will be based on the Microsoft.Net 3.0 Framework.

'This is an exciting time for customers who are anxious to break down data silos and electronically capture information generated in the laboratory to give that data meaningful context for more effective decision-making and knowledge management,' said Dave Champagne, vice president and general manager of informatics for Thermo Fisher.

'Our collaboration with Microsoft provides us with best-in-class technologies and tools to build enterprise-wide solutions that address our customers' entire value chain. They can now aggregate both structured and unstructured data to look for relationships and trends that enrich their knowledge and understanding.'