Hitachi Ltd. said Wednesday that it will exclusively market in the Asia-Pacific region gene-analysis software developed by a U.S. firm devoted to the life sciences.
Tying up with California-based DoubleTwist Inc., the Japanese high-tech maker also plans to provide pharmaceutical makers with information services based on DoubleTwist's database.
High-capacity dedicated software is essential for the study of the enormous human genome, which is to be fully sequenced in coming years under the public-funded Human Genome Project. DoubleTwist said last month that it has completed extensive analysis of available Human Genome Project data, revealing genes and other valuable information. Hitachi announced last month that it has joined hands with Myriad Genetics Inc., another U.S. biopharmaceutical company, in a bid to enter the life-science business.