News for August 2013

News Archive

'Shape Shifting' computer program opens up drug discovery 'Shape Shifting' computer program opens up drug discovery

The Shapeshifting Inspired Discovery (SID) program decodes the structures of proteins in our cells that scientists suspect may hold the key to new treatments. The program can rapidly analyze the complicated shapes and identify how the proteins might be "shape shifted" by drugs.

Shire and Santaris extend their strategic alliance to discover and develop LNA-drugs in the rare genetic disease field Shire and Santaris extend their strategic alliance to discover and develop LNA-drugs in the rare genetic disease field

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, today announced that its long term partner, Shire has extended the existing partnership in the rare genetic disease space.

Adimab initiates new therapeutic discovery partnership with Innovent Adimab initiates new therapeutic discovery partnership with Innovent

Adimab, LLC, a leader in the discovery of monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, and Innovent, a leading Chinese antibody therapeutics and manufacturing company, today announced a new partnership for the discovery, development and commercialization of an antibody-based therapeutic program. Under the terms of the Agreement, Adimab will utilize its antibody discovery and optimization platform to identify a fully human therapeutic antibody against a target selected by Innovent. All initial product development, including manufacturing and clinical trials, will be coordinated by Innovent. Both companies will retain rights to develop and commercialize the therapeutic program in their respective geographic territories.

NanoKTN helps drug discovery solution provider Pharmidex find new facility NanoKTN helps drug discovery solution provider Pharmidex find new facility

The Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN), one of the UK’s primary knowledge-based networks for Micro and Nanotechnologies, is pleased to announce that it has helped one of its members secure new facilities at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, the UK's first open innovation bioscience campus, pioneering a unique culture to drive early stage biotech, pharma and medtech developments.

Therapeutic eye injections may be needed less often Therapeutic eye injections may be needed less often

Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have teamed up with clinicians to create a new drug-delivery strategy for a type of central vision loss caused by blood vessel growth at the back of the eye, where such growth should not occur. In addition to testing a new drug that effectively stops such runaway vessel growth in mice, the team gave the drug a biodegradable coating to keep it in the eye longer. If proven effective in humans, the engineers say, it could mean only two or three needle sticks to the eye per year instead of the monthly injections that are the current standard of care.

Tecan focuses on drug discovery solutions Tecan focuses on drug discovery solutions

Tecan will be giving drug discovery scientists from across Europe the opportunity to discuss the latest trends in laboratory automation at this year’s autumn exhibitions. The Company has enjoyed close links with the drug discovery sector for over 30 years and, as a world leading supplier of automated liquid handling solutions, will be attending both ELRIG Drug Discovery 2013 and MipTec 2013 as part of its ongoing dedication to innovation in drug discovery.

Tackling drug resistance: emerging themes in biology, technology and collaboration Tackling drug resistance: emerging themes in biology, technology and collaboration

Intrinsic and acquired drug resistance severely limits the efficacy and response duration of anticancer therapies. Contributing to drug resistance are the existence of self-renewing stem cell populations, heterogeneity of tumour genomes and the ability of cancer cells to engage compensatory or redundancy mechanisms. The downloads included in this Drug Discovery Today Editor’s Choice newsletter outline progress in our understanding of stem cell biology, emerging technologies for high content imaging and molecular pathway profiling of tumours, and the importance of collaboration between industrial and academic translational researchers

Sunovion Pharma and Afraxis establish novel drug discovery alliance Sunovion Pharma and Afraxis establish novel drug discovery alliance

Sunovion Pharma and San Diego-based drug discovery platform company Afraxis have entered into a partnership agreement to use the unique enhanced spine platform (ESP), to boost Sunovion’s preclinical central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery process.

Anxious mice reveal enzyme's role in regulating emotion. By Jun Aruga, Riken Institute. Anxious mice reveal enzyme's role in regulating emotion. By Jun Aruga, Riken Institute.

Depression and anxiety disorders affect a great many people and though we have antidepressants to treat symptoms, we actually know little about how the chemistry behind them works

Sanford-Burnham collaborates with Pfizer to identify targets for treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes Sanford-Burnham collaborates with Pfizer to identify targets for treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Pfizer Inc. to identify new therapeutic targets for preventing and treating complications of obesity and diabetes. The team will utilize novel screening tools including systems-biology approaches and technologies developed at Sanford-Burnham with the aim of discovering new therapeutic strategies for reducing insulin resistance in obesity and diabetes.

Experimental drugs developed for breast cancer could treat lung cancer too Experimental drugs developed for breast cancer could treat lung cancer too

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that experimental drugs first developed for breast and ovarian cancer could be used to treat the most common type of lung cancer, reveals research published in Oncogene today.

Certara enhances SYBYL-X drug design and discovery software suite Certara enhances SYBYL-X drug design and discovery software suite

Certara™, a leading provider of software and scientific consulting services to improve productivity and decision-making from drug discovery through drug development, announced the release of version 2.1 of its SYBYL®-X molecular modeling and simulation suite. SYBYL-X is a comprehensive suite of computer-aided design tools developed to expedite drug design and other molecular discovery projects, from high-throughput screening to late lead optimization.

Chemists' work will aid drug design to target cancer and inflammatory disease Chemists' work will aid drug design to target cancer and inflammatory disease

Chemists at Indiana University Bloomington have produced detailed descriptions of the structure and molecular properties of human folate receptor proteins, a key development for designing new drugs that can target cancer and inflammatory diseases without serious side effects.

Unexpected synergy between two cancer-linked proteins offers hope for personalised cancer therapy Unexpected synergy between two cancer-linked proteins offers hope for personalised cancer therapy

A team of scientists led by Associate Professor Zeng Qi from A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have discovered a new biomarker which will help physicians predict how well cancer patients respond to cancer drugs.

Scripps Florida Scientists devise new way to dramatically raise RNA treatment potency Scripps Florida Scientists devise new way to dramatically raise RNA treatment potency

Scientists from the Jupiter campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown a novel way to dramatically raise the potency of drug candidates targeting RNA, resulting in a 2,500-fold improvement in potency and significantly increasing their potential as therapeutic agents.

Wellcome Trust and KU Leuven announce collaboration with Janssen for development of dengue antiviral drugs Wellcome Trust and KU Leuven announce collaboration with Janssen for development of dengue antiviral drugs

Researchers at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) are joining forces with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Janssen) and the Wellcome Trust to discover and develop candidate antiviral drugs for the prevention and treatment of dengue infection.

Cancer Research Technology, The Institute of Cancer Research and Merck Serono sign licensing deal on molecules that block the WNT signalling pathway Cancer Research Technology, The Institute of Cancer Research and Merck Serono sign licensing deal on molecules that block the WNT signalling pathway

Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and , Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, have signed a licensing deal today extending a successful initial alliance to discover and develop anticancer drugs that block the WNT signalling pathway.

Drug Discovery Today: August Issue Drug Discovery Today: August Issue

The latest issue of Drug Discovery Today is packed full of industry focused research articles, new developments in drug discovery, and expert comment and opinion.