Mass Spec Analysis Achieves Statistical Confidence with Release of PeakInvestigator(TM) 2.0

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 25, 2017) - Veritomyx, Inc., a leading innovator in mass spectral analysis software, today announced the release of PeakInvestigator™ v2.0 software services ("PeakInvestigator"), the first commercial centroiding software to deliver statistical confidence for the mass and abundance of every detected peak. Confidence intervals now enable automation and reliability in multiple mass spectrometric workflows, from peak identification and quantification, to biomarker discovery, clinical diagnostics development, quality control on the production floor, and environmental monitoring. This unprecedented capability positions mass spectrometry for further acceleration into mainstream use as an analytical and bioanalytical tool.

PeakInvestigator software automatically detects and serves all major classes of mass spectrometers: Time-of-Flight (TOF), Ion trap, Orbitrap and FTICR. PeakInvestigator applies novel advanced signal processing algorithms that automatically discriminate signal from noise, improve resolution up to 4-fold, and precisely determine the statistical confidence intervals for every data feature reported.

Mr. Jeffrey N. Peterson, CEO & Chairman of Veritomyx, said: "PeakInvestigator v2.0 has opened a new era in mass spectral analysis. It is fully automated, eliminating user bias and improving reproducibility. It statistically determines signal-to-noise thresholds, and dynamically adapts to baseline and threshold variations in every spectrum, optimizing the yield of real peak data and minimizing false noise calls. Its remarkable 4x resolution improvement over raw mass spectral outputs reveals forests of hidden biomarkers." 

Mr. Peterson continued: "Most importantly, our innovation to deliver statistical confidence intervals on every mass and abundance peak call is now enabling a pivotal transformation of mass spectrometry into a mainstream analytical platform. Across industry, government and academia, competition in scientific analysis effectiveness is driven by speed, completeness, precision and accuracy. PeakInvestigator v2.0 has changed the playing field in each of these categories. It is a privilege to serve the needs of our clients across the wide range of scientific, quality control and medical disciplines that depend upon mass spectrometric methods. We welcome every opportunity to partner with them in maximizing their effectiveness and outputs."

Dr. Luke V. Schneider, CSO of Veritomyx' parent Target Discovery, Inc., explained: "Statistical confidence intervals on every peak call empowers a new level of automation in downstream analytical effectiveness with mass spectral results. Previously overlapped chromatograms are now confidently separated on the basis of mass alone, eliminating the need for users to guess at the proper mass tolerance to apply to LC/MS data. Confidence in the accuracy of isotopic abundance measurements allows faster and more accurate identification of analytes and any contaminants. For analysis of unknowns, minimizing noise while retaining sensitivity and leveraging statistical confidence on real data dramatically enhances the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of biomarker or other identifications."

Dr. Schneider added: "We are delighted to make these breakthrough capabilities available to our clients worldwide through our PeakInvestigator software services, cost-effectively delivered via high-performance cloud computing. We provide a free public API to all users, allowing PeakInvestigator capabilities to be easily added to any MS workflow."

About PeakInvestigator™ v2.0 Software Services

PeakInvestigator delivers a revolutionary new signal-processing strategy for the fully-automated and statistically-confident extraction of more complete, relevant, precise and reproducible data from mass spectra. User estimations or bias are eliminated. Components previously hidden in unresolved peaks are revealed. Signal-to-noise sensitivity is optimized, allowing analysts to focus on the relevant data, without being confounded by spectral noise. 

Statistical confidence enables organizations to harness automation in downstream MS workflows, to achieve more from fewer resources, reach correct conclusions with fewer samples, and reveal new discoveries previously hidden within their data. PeakInvestigator offers mass spectrometrists in all fields breakthrough efficiencies not just from new analyses, but also from mining their archives of existing raw mass spectral data for new insights.

PeakInvestigator software processes raw mass spectral scan files, and delivers an automated, user-independent data analysis with statistical confidence and up to 4x resolution increase beyond that provided by the mass spec hardware and software platform. It also defines and accesses meaningful signals differentiated from near-noise levels, far beyond traditional operational capabilities. 

Hidden discovery challenges that would otherwise demand expensive upgrades in mass spectrometry hardware (assuming precious samples were even available for re-analysis) can instead be solved for pennies per scan as PeakInvestigator post-processes existing data. PeakInvestigator is designed to process entire or partial LC/MS, GC/MS, CE/MS or other scan sets, or just a single spectrum.

PeakInvestigator utilizes efficient high-performance cloud computing resources offered securely in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) format. A simple public application-programming interface (API) is freely available for implementation within users' existing mass spectrometry workflows, and Software Development Kits (SDKs) are available to facilitate implementation of the API. This leaves their validated workflow intact, while selectively accessing new PeakInvestigator capabilities.

For immediate and convenient access, MZmine PeakInvestigator™ Edition extends MZmine 2, a popular open-source mass spectrometry workflow platform, to include PeakInvestigator in its mass detection options and incorporate the new confidence interval information in chromatogram building. PeakInvestigator™ Direct Access allows users to upload and process one or more mass scans directly through their browser.

About Veritomyx, Inc.

Veritomyx, Inc. develops, markets and sells access to innovative software solutions addressing longstanding limitations in mass spectrometry signal processing and biomolecular identification challenges. Across the life sciences, the complexity of biological samples often present demands to detect and resolve overlapped information, or to deliver extraordinary signal analysis sensitivity and precision in proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, etc. These challenges extend into the food/agriculture sector, and beyond into petroleum, industrial, and environmental applications.

Veritomyx is a majority-owned subsidiary of Target Discovery, Inc., an innovator in personalized medicine that specializes in the discovery, validation, and utilization of protein isoforms to improve clinical diagnosis and management of disease.

For easy access to download the resources noted above, simple account setup for PeakInvestigator™, or for more information about Veritomyx, please visit: http://www.veritomyx.com