United Devices

United Devices was a pioneer in distributed grid computing, providing infrastructure for large-scale computational biology and drug discovery projects. The company is best known for the "United Devices Cancer Research Project," which utilized millions of volunteer PCs to screen billions of molecules against cancer-related proteins. Their technology enabled pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to perform massive virtual screenings that would otherwise require supercomputers. Notable collaborations included projects with Intel, Oxford University, and the National Foundation for Cancer Research to identify drug candidates for cancer, smallpox, and anthrax. The company's MetaProcessor platform was a significant advancement in bioinformatics, allowing for the parallel processing of complex molecular docking simulations. United Devices was acquired by Univa in 2007, marking a consolidation in the grid computing market.