By Bernadette Toner

Tobacco giant Philip Morris International is partnering with IBM in an effort to advance the industrial applications of systems biology and computational modeling.

The initiative, called Industrial Methodology for Process Verification in Research, or IMPROVER, kicked off this week with the Diagnostic Signature Challenge the first of several challenges planned over the next four years.

IMPROVER builds upon similar challenge initiatives in the academic world such as the IBM-led DREAM (Dialogue on Reverse Engineering Assessment and Methods) project and the CASP (Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction) initiative but is intended to focus on the verification of processes that would be of use in the industrial setting, according to the project organizers.

Hugh Browne, R&D scientific spokesperson for PMI, told BioInform that the effort grew out of the company's internal systems biology research, which is directed toward the aim of developing new tobacco products that are "less risky" than those it markets today.

PMI views systems biology and computational modeling as a promising method for predicting the health risks of these products as a complement to clinical studies, but the company's scientists have been frustrated that there is currently no "standard method of verifying their conclusions," Browne said.

As a result, he said the company began working with IBM in 2009 with the aim of organizing something along the lines of DREAM, but targeted specifically toward the needs of industry.

Browne noted that systems biology approaches have applications in a range of industrial fields, including biopharmaceuticals, nutrition, environmental safety, and consumer product development. As such, he believes that any effort to help companies assess their methods would be of great interest in the commercial world, since such tools have been lacking to date.

"Although industry shares many of the same needs for validation as academia, a methodology for verifying research is needed in the industrial setting that recognizes both speed and protection of proprietary data constraints, as well as the importance of market considerations and consumer protection," researchers from PMI, IBM, and elsewhere noted in a paper describing their vision for IMPROVER, which was published in Nature Biotechnology last September.

Browne explained that IMPROVER participants will not be required to disclose the fine details of their methods if they fear that it will compromise their intellectual property position. "We want to attract the broadest possible community," including commercial firms who may consider one another to be competitors, he said. "IP is important, so if participants feel they need to protect that, then they should do that."

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Philip Morris International, IBM Launch Industry-Focused Systems Biology Verification Challenge