Powerful Chemistry Desktop Software Surpasses ISIS With Improved Capabilities in Storing, Searching, Viewing, Reporting, and Sharing Personal Information

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Symyx Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:SMMX) today announced the release of Symyx Isentris(r) Personal Edition scientific software. Designed for small to mid-size R&D organizations and for individuals, Isentris Personal Edition brings advanced scientific information management, exploration, and sharing capabilities to scientists without requiring an enterprise deployment. As the successor to the ISIS desktop system (replacing ISIS/Base, ISIS for Excel, and ISIS/Draw), Isentris Personal Edition surpasses ISIS in meeting scientists' needs for storing, searching, viewing, and sharing personal experimental results while still providing the powerful functionality of an enterprise scientific informatics system.

"Isentris Personal Edition puts all the power of a highly interactive, self-service, enterprise informatics system on the scientist's desktop without the overhead of an enterprise system," said Dr. Trevor Heritage, president of Symyx Software. "Scientists can capture and manage their personal information in fully searchable local databases and work offline. By helping scientists share databases and associated files easily with colleagues, Isentris Personal Edition drives effective collaboration within and across partnering organizations."

Isentris Personal Edition includes the following components:

 * Symyx Isentris-Browse, collate, report, and share your data in an
   efficient, timely manner. The result is faster answers and better
   support for decisions.
 * Isentris for Excel-Automatically generate Microsoft Excel(r)
   reports that provide an easy-to-use, familiar environment for
   viewing, editing, and querying data. Work directly with live
   structures that can be edited or used as the basis for another
   query. Easily convert large amounts of complex data into pre-
   defined, sharable, interactive structure-activity relationship (SAR)
   tables including biologic SAR. The result is faster, more agile
   structure-based analysis.
 * Symyx Draw-Draw and edit complex molecules, chemical reactions,
   polymers, non-specific mixtures, formulations, and biologics with
   unprecedented ease. The result is more effective and collaborative
   searching, viewing, communicating, and archiving of scientific
   information.

Using the new and improved Isentris for Excel component of Isentris Personal Edition, scientists can manage, explore, and share chemical and biological information in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that maintain the integrity of chemical structures and reaction information.