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For more information, contact
Tom Gardner (317) 841-8014 x101
tom.gardner@RNDGroup.com
RND Designs Software for Life-Saving Devices
By Dwight Adams
dwight.adams@indystar.com
October 23, 2007 - Indianapolis, IN -
A better way to test donated blood to ensure its safety. A less invasive method to check for colon cancer. A new procedure for screening Pap smears for cervical cancer.
An Indianapolis software development company called The RND Group designs custom software to help operate innovative machines and devices that can make those medical dreams come true.
The company's success in its life-sciences niche has enabled it to grow rapidly, develop a national reputation and celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. It has been a repeated winner of the Growth 100 award given by the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a division of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
"Companies are looking for a software partner to help commercialize their discoveries," said Tim DeFrench, president of The RND Group.
"Some clients seek us out," DeFrench said. "Once they've completed the research and they want to commercialize their product or service, that's where we come in."
The RND Group has demonstrated expertise in designing software that can automate key laboratory analyzer products -- as well as meet rigorous federal standards regulating that software's development and testing.
One achievement DeFrench and Tom Gardner, vice president of business development, proudly single out is the company's work for Gen-Probe and its TIGRIS blood, plasma and tissue analyzer.
The RND Group recently designed the operational software that helped Gen-Probe receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration to use TIGRIS to test donated blood and organs for HIV-1 and hepatitis B and C. In March, the FDA approved another Gen-Probe test to use TIGRIS to screen for the West Nile virus.
The company also designed the software for GeneNews Ltd.'s ColonSentry product, which uses a blood-based test to look for biomarkers that may help detect colon cancer, and the software for Roche Diagnostic's Accu-Check Inform device, which helps nurses perform nearly instantaneous blood-glucose tests for patients.
Since its launch in 1997 by DeFrench and a co-founder who since has left the company, RND Group now has 18 full-time employees -- including 16 software engineers. The RND Group is looking to hire up to four more software engineers next year to accommodate its rapid growth.
DeFrench said the company has seen revenues grow by 10 percent to 15 percent from 2004 to 2007 and is enjoying growth of about 33 percent so far this year. The ever-present need for help with research and development has helped the company weather downturns in the economy, he said.
"They're doing a lot of good things for our industry," said J. Michael Brooks, president of the Indiana Health Industry Forum, a nonprofit that assists the local life-sciences sector. "It's exciting to know that that kind of work is being done here in Indiana." .
Not only does RND Group fill the key software-development niche, it also helps bring business to the state with its growing national reputation, Brooks said. Such contact with companies outside Indiana has a "multiplier effect," he said, by helping bring in investment dollars that support the life-sciences jobs being created here .
The RND Group is booked for projects through the next two years and has had to be selective in new work it takes on, DeFrench said .
He estimated it takes six to 12 months to develop new operational software, even when using an experienced team of four to seven software engineers. It's usually another year after the software is handed off before the product is ready to go to market .
The RND Group now is working on software to help detect "superbugs" -- antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that killed an estimated 19,000 Americans in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- compared with 17,000 who died that year of AIDS .
Brooks said biotech professionals and government officials would be making a mistake if they overlooked the contributions of niche players such as The RND Group .
"There are a lot of different kinds of companies that make up the life-sciences industry," he said .
"A lot of times we don't think of the IT (information technology) side as an important part of the business. But it is. "
For more information on the RND Group, contact RND at 1-317-841-8070 or via email at info@RNDGroup.com.
About the RND Group
The RND Group provides full life cycle software engineering services specializing in medical device and consumer electronic product development. We work with companies by partnering with their product development organizations in providing project management, requirements management, software engineering, and product testing services as needed to complement our clients’ existing engineering departments.
RND is proud to be celebrating ten years of providing quality software engineering services to our customers.
www.rndgroup.com
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