A SPINOUT software company from the University of York is applying for funding to develop its core product ahead of plans to expand into the biotech market in San Diego.

SimOmics was formed to reduce clinical trials for therapeutics and healthcare products through software which simulates preclinical and clinical trail conditions.

Professor Jon Timmis, from the university’s department of electronics, has worked with co-founders, Dr Mark Coles from York’s Centre for Immunology and Infection and Professor Vipin Kumar from Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, in San Diego, for more than seven years developing models and simulations of the immune system.

Their software informs decisions on trial design and predicts long-term effects for drugs and healthcare products in a bid to eliminate the need for animal and patient trials, enabling manufacturers to focus on products most likely to succeed.

Initially funded through standard research council grants and departmental PhD studentships, the team decided in 2012 that the technology had reached a stage of potential commercial value.

After receiving an encouraging response from the University’s Research Innovation Office (RIO), located in the Innovation Centre at York Science Park, and conducting some market research, the team obtained funding from the RIO to develop the core technology ideas.

They also applied for funds from the Centre for Chronic Diseases to test the technology, and Mr Timmis successfully applied for a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship, allowing him to focus on developing SimOmics, which was officially established in June 2014, and employ a software engineer to help develop the technology.

Now SimOmics is applying for Technology Strategy Board money to develop a core product.

Mr Timmis said: "We know that scaling up our business will be a challenge, so we are focussing on how best to develop a core product line of software to support decision making for clinical trials.

"In the next three years we plan to expand to San Diego, where there is a large market of biotech companies and where we have local expertise and contacts.

"There is huge potential for SimOmics and while running a business is very different from operating in an academic environment, we are thoroughly enjoying working on our new venture."

The SimOmics team has just been awarded, as part of a larger consortium led by the Centre for Immunology and Infection at York under Prof Paul Kaye, a project to develop a virtual laboratory for infectious diseases, to allow for the computer based simulation of different therapeutics in the treatment of Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease.

Mr Timmis added: "The project is for two and a half years and will provide a very strong start for us as a company, allowing us to employ a senior software engineer."