DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE Startup IT company Digital Infuzion Inc. will move to a larger headquarters in Gaithersburg in November and hopes to double its 25-person workforce over the next year, said President and CEO Hemant Virkar, a North Potomac resident who moved from India to Aspen Hill 17 years ago.

Virkar, who came to Aspen Hill from India in 1986 and lives in North Potomac, has an academic background in computer science and a professional interest in healthcare.

His company, Digital Infuzion Inc., develops software applications and IT systems to help healthcare organizations manage their various databases of information.

"These departments and systems need to gel ... because today's workplace is so complex," Virkar said.

"We want to develop tools and technology to enable biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to do their clinical research faster."

In late June, the company signed a seven-year lease for a new 15,000-square-foot headquarters in Gaithersburg, at 656 Quince Orchard Road.

Construction on the space has begun and Digital Infuzion will occupy it Nov. 1, said Virkar, who is president and CEO of the 1-year-old company. When Digital Infuzion moves in, this 90,000-square-foot office building will be fully occupied, said Kristine Warner, a spokeswoman for the owner, Rockville's Federal Realty Investment Trust.

The new headquarters is less than a mile from Digital Infuzion's current office at 806 Diamond Ave., a 3,000-square-foot space that the company will keep.

Digital Infuzion has 25 employees -- most of whom live in the Gaithersburg area -- and expects to reach 30-35 in November, Virkar said.

His goal is to have 50 employees in the next 12 months. If the company reaches 75, though, Virkar will likely have to call his real estate broker to find more space, he said.

Privately held Digital Infuzion had revenue of $850,000 last year and projects $4.5 million in 2003 and $10 million in 2004, Virkar said.

The company was profitable last year and will be again this year, he said, declining to provide specifics.

Two of Digital Infuzion's main clients are the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Officials with these institutes did not return phone calls.

Virkar said the company is developing a clinical data system for the NHLBI so institute officials can more quickly access and organize information about patients and testing programs.

Another contract calls for Digital Infuzion and its partner, Capital Technology Information Services Inc. of Bethesda, to build a clinical research management system for the NIAID's Division of AIDS.

Virkar described the DAIDS system as the "crown jewel" of Digital Infuzion's business. This contract started at $50,000 in May 2002 and grew to $7.5 million nearly a year later. The company hopes to have an early version of the DAIDS system developed by the end of the year, he said.

In addition to federal government laboratories, Virkar said the company is targeting the private sector. Digital Infuzion has partnered with Tribiosys Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., to attract companies in the Boston area, one of the birthplaces of the biotechnology industry.

Surprisingly, though, Digital Infuzion has not made much of a push to conquer Maryland's biotech industry. Virkar said this would change in the near future.

The company is partnering with the Cornell Theory Center at Cornell University to work on other data management projects for the NIAID, related to biodefense and bioinformatics.

"It's a very thorough group ... extremely organized," said Linda Callahan, CTC's executive director. "I've been impressed with their ability to stay calm, even under deadline pressure."

Digital Infuzion executives say that, while the company has many talented workers, Virkar has played the most significant role in the company's success.

"He is constantly challenging me to do better and think outside the box," said Thomas McCartan, the company's director of Web services, who joined April 21.

Suresh Varghese, vice president of enterprise business solutions, said, "The passion he [Virkar] possesses is infectious. It has always been a learning experience."