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VizX signs distribution deal with 2 big biotech suppliers

By Luke Timmerman
Seattle Times business reporter

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The small Seattle company has signed a deal with a pair of heavyweight biotech suppliers — IBM and VWR International, a $2.8 billion-a-year global distributor of lab materials.

VizX Labs Founded: 2001 Located: Seattle, Queen Anne CEO: Tom Ranken, 48 Employees: 12 Cash raised to date: $3 million Key Investors: Paul Abrams, Robert Arnold, Evergreen Partners of Seattle, William H. Gates Sr., Bruce Montgomery, Sabey Corp., Bradley Sparks What it does: Makes software which scientists use to analyze information from genetic experiments. VizX's users: 60 academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies, including: University of Washington, Novartis, Harvard University, University of California San Diego, Karolinska Institute, Bioprocessing Technology Institute (Singapore).

Under the agreement, VizX's software for analyzing genetic information will be bundled as an option with thousands of IBM computers sold each year to biological scientists. The combination package of hardware and software also will be pitched to thousands of scientists by reps in VWR's sales force, who are starting to sell computers for the first time.

VizX Chief Executive Tom Ranken said his company will not get paid cash up front, and it will initially give away its Internet-based program through a two-month starter trial. If scientists decide to subscribe to the program through VWR, VizX will get a cut of revenue from every sale. Using VizX's software costs $3,000 a year for academic customers and $10,000 a year for pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

For Ranken, a relentless networker who has struggled to raise cash and make a name for his company over the past three years, signing the deal was sweet. He noted, ruefully, that the timing for his business moves hasn't always been ideal — he took his first batch of investor checks to the bank on Sept. 11, 2001.

"This is a sign that these companies, that are powerhouses of life sciences, now think we're the real deal, and we can generate value for their customers," Ranken said.

So far, VizX has enticed more than 60 academic and industrial organizations to buy the software, but the company hasn't yet turned a profit . Some venture investors are skeptical about how big the market is for VizX's software.

The software is designed to help scientists sort through reams of data being spit out of gene microchips, a technology researchers use to test whether genes are active or inactive in a disease under study. VizX says its model is simpler to use than its competitors, allowing scientists to think more about their experiments and less about how to run the software.

Edward Sapp, VWR's director of life sciences, said his company is including VizX's product in its lineup because his technical staff tested it and considered it intuitive. "I think it will catch on with a large group of scientists, and we want to be a part of that," Sapp said.

Luke Timmerman: 206-515-5644 or ltimmerman@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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