Data Company Emerges from Stanford Math

In BusinessWeek:
With today’s powerful data analysis systems, users gather a ton of information—a breakdown of Wal-Mart Stores’ (WMT) sales in the U.S. or things people “like” on Facebook (FB)—in one place and then run queries. The questioner typically comes in with a preconceived idea of what he’s looking for or at least a set of preconceived biases that determine the questions he asks.  

  The Ayasdi software, which customers including Merck and Raytheon have been testing for several months, runs dozens of algorithms and then illuminates patterns and relations between the data points. BN ImmunoTherapeutics, for example, has turned to the software for research help on Prostvac, a prostate cancer vaccine that is undergoing clinical trials. The researchers compare genetic markers, people’s ages, medical histories, and other factors to figure out which patients will most likely benefit from the vaccine. “In the past, we would form a hypothesis and say, ‘We think these three biomarkers are important,’ ” says Amanda Enstrom, a research scientist at BN ImmunoTherapeutics. “With Ayasdi, we really allow the data to show us what the important biomarkers are.”  ...