Drug Discovery News and Research

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The drug discovery process begins with recognizing a disease or clinical condition in which there is a lack of adequate medical treatment. Once a potential drug has been identified, pre-clinical research can begin. This process includes several stages; the first of which involves identifying and validating the prospective drug’s target through assay development, high throughput screening, hit identification and finally, lead optimization. Once the pre-clinical process is complete, the newly synthesized drug candidate is selected for future clinical development.

Gladstone plans to create new center for Alzheimer's disease research

The Gladstone Institutes today announced plans to create a Center for Comprehensive Alzheimer's Disease Research, offering new hope for the millions of families stricken by this debilitating neurodegenerative disease.

16 Jul 2011

DVS Sciences completes $14.6M series A financing

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and DVS Sciences Inc., today announced that DVS Sciences has completed a $14.6 million series A financing.

14 Jul 2011

Poisonous shrub extract may act as natural painkiller

An extract of the poisonous shrub Jatropha curcas acts as a strong painkiller and may have a mode of action different from conventional analgesics, such as morphine and other pharmaceuticals.

12 Jul 2011

Cancer Cell publishes Epizyme and collaborators' breakthrough research on MLL

Epizyme, Inc., a company leading the discovery and development of personalized therapeutics for genetically-defined cancer and rare disease patients, and its collaborators announced the publication in Cancer Cell of breakthrough research in the treatment of MLL-rearranged leukemia (MLL), a genetically-defined subset of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia.

12 Jul 2011

Study helps explain why fatty foods are complicit in weight gain

Recent studies have revealed potato chips and french fries to be the worst contributors to weight gain - and with good reason. Have you ever wondered why you can't eat just one chip or a single fry? It's not just the carbohydrates at fault.

5 Jul 2011

Harvard University, UCB enter innovative research collaboration

UCB and Harvard University officially launched their innovative Research Alliance during a signing ceremony that took place in Boston last night in the presence of his Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium.

30 Jun 2011

Anacor, DNDi and SCYNEXIS complete SCYX-7158 pre-clinical studies for combating sleeping sickness

Anacor Pharmaceuticals, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), and SCYNEXIS Inc. today announced the successful completion of pre-clinical studies for the first new oral drug candidate discovered specifically to combat human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness.

29 Jun 2011

AMRI, Proteros ink new partnership

AMRI and Proteros Biostructures GmbH announced today that they have signed an agreement for a joint offering to the life sciences industry. Proteros, an expert in the field of protein crystallization and X-ray structural analysis, provides services that complement AMRI's existing drug discovery capabilities in chemistry, in vitro biology, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics services.

28 Jun 2011

Nimbus Discovery closes $24 million Series A financing

Nimbus Discovery LLC, a biopharmaceutical company using state-of-the-art computational technology to discover novel medicines against exciting but previously inaccessible disease targets, today announced the close of a $24M Series A financing.

28 Jun 2011

Janssen, Jubilant partner for drug discovery in the field of neuroscience

Jubilant Discovery Services Inc., Bedminster, New Jersey, a Jubilant Life Sciences Company, announced today that it has entered into a drug discovery alliance with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Beerse, Belgium, that will aim to deliver preclinical candidates to Janssen. The alliance is set to span an initial period of 3 years and will focus on multiple targets in the area of neuroscience.

28 Jun 2011

Biolauncher, Isogenica and Cresset enter joint venture to develop drug discovery platform

Isogenica Ltd today announced a collaborative joint venture with Biolauncher Ltd and Cresset Biomolecular Discovery Ltd to develop an innovative end-to-end therapeutic discovery platform.

28 Jun 2011

Genentech, FORMA enter structurally innovative agreement for small molecule cancer program

FORMA Therapeutics announced today that it entered into an agreement granting Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, exclusive worldwide rights to acquire a pre-clinical small molecule program against a single undisclosed cancer target.

27 Jun 2011

McMaster researchers to use tiny worms for Parkinson's project

McMaster researchers from three disciplines are deploying thousands of tiny worms and a homegrown invention to test drugs in a collaborative bid to defeat Parkinson's Disease.

27 Jun 2011

Researchers develop new way to search for RNA drug targets

By accounting for the floppy, fickle nature of RNA, researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine have developed a new way to search for drugs that target this important molecule. Their work appears in the June 26 issue of Nature Chemical Biology.

27 Jun 2011

New data from Zafgen's ZGN-433 Phase 1b study on obesity presented at ADA 2011

Zafgen, Inc., a pharmaceutical company pioneering novel obesity therapeutics to help the body regain and sustain a lean, healthy state by targeting imbalances in fat metabolism, today announced new data from a Phase 1b study of ZGN-433, a selective methionine aminopeptidase 2 inhibitor (MetAP2), which showed a significant improvement in cardiovascular risk markers in severely obese subjects.

27 Jun 2011

Monash researchers receive MMV Project of the Year award for new anti-malarial drug candidate

Monash University is collaborating on the development of a potential new drug to cure malaria throughout the world.

23 Jun 2011

Axxam receives ADDF grant to develop new therapeutics for Alzheimer's

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced today that it has awarded a grant to Axxam SpA to develop small molecules to treat Alzheimer's disease by targeting inflammation.

23 Jun 2011

AstraZeneca, Jubilant announce delivery outcomes and early success in Pain therapeutic area

Biosys Ltd., Bengaluru, based subsidiary of Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd., and AstraZeneca, today announced another successful delivery of an early stage milestone in the Pain therapeutic area.

23 Jun 2011

VENENUM opens new medicinal chemistry facility in Hamilton, NJ

VENENUM Biodesign, a drug discovery company that utilizes ultra-high throughput screening (UHTS) of its compound collection to identify potential therapeutic agents against its novel disease-based targets, or its partners' targets, announced today that it opened its new medicinal chemistry space at 8 Black Forest Road in Hamilton, NJ.

22 Jun 2011

Indian biotechnology market to reach over $11 billion by 2017

The Indian biotechnology market is set to reach over $11 billion by 2017, according to a new report available on companiesandmarkets.com. The market will be driven by foreign investment, growing R&D and infrastructure investment, an emerging contract research market, drug discovery and growth in manufacturing outsourcing to India.

21 Jun 2011