SBIR-STTR Award

Our goal is to develop NAPIS (Natural Products Information System), an integrated database system for handling information collected in natural products acquisition and biological activity screening programs. This system coordinates written text, image, and geographical documentation on sample collections with chemical and bioactivity data. Key features of this system include the phylogenetic structure database engine (PSDE) and geographical information system )GIS). The system supports portable field units capable of integrating sample collection, chemical, and bioactivity data with photographic images and regional maps. Phase I will develop and demonstrate as a sample, the system's functional aspects using existing collection data, bioactivity data, an academic database, and a commercial chemistry database that can search by compound substructure. Phase II will amplify and extend the PSDE and further refine the system. NAPIS will be marketed to small or large programs with the ability to customize its features. This powerful information handing concept uses advanced technologies to meet the need for source organism dereplication, dereplication by chemotaxonomy, recollection, and expedition planning in murine natural products acquisition programs.Commercial ApplicationsThe NAPIS system will be developed and marketed to the NCI, other large scale, and specialty drug discovery groups for use in handling information in natural products acquisition and biological activity screening programs.National Cancer Institute (NCI)

The goal of this project is to develop NAPIS (NAtural Products Information System), an integrated database system and service for dissemination of information on natural products chemistry, biological activity and biodiversity. This System uses advanced technologies to provide a standard for data capture and exchange. The key features include: interface with commercially-available databases through the phylogenetic structure database engine (PSDE), the ability to easily create custom taxonomic schemes, photographic and scanned laboratory print-out image handling, and a geographical information system (GIS) that is tailored to the needs of natural products investigators and biodiversity inventory projects. Project managers will use the system as an interface to bridge the gap between the library, the laboratory, and the field. Following successful Phase I development of a system prototype, the objective of Phase II is to further develop this innovative software product building on the best available knowledge on the acquisition and evaluation of natural products for use in drug discovery. Natural products development and biodiversity inventory projects will use NAPIS as a front-line method for effective control of their laboratory and field efforts, and as a forum for information exchange on the Internet. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The network-ready NAPIS system will be implemented for Phase II and marketed to research interests from academia, business and government including natural products, biodiversity inventory. taxonomists and environmental impact/conservation; and on several functional levels including independent investigators, project managers and facilitating organizations.