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.

Broad opportunities for covalent drugs

Avila Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel targeted covalent drugs, today announced the publication of a scientific review article in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery titled "The Resurgence of Covalent Drugs".

1 Apr 2011

USPTO issues patent to Asterand's BioMAP technology

Asterand plc, a leading provider of human tissue-based services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies engaged in drug discovery research, and its subsidiary BioSeek LLC today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent Nos. 7,908,089 entitled "Patient classification" and 7,912,651 entitled "Function homology screening."

1 Apr 2011

TAP announces new corporate identity

The Automation Partnership, a leading supplier of innovative automation for life science applications today announced that the company will now be known as TAP Biosystems.

30 Mar 2011

Positive results from Vertex VX-770 Phase 3 trial against CF

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced positive results from a 24-week analysis of the ongoing Phase 3 ENVISION study of VX-770, an oral medicine in development that targets the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

30 Mar 2011

Researchers develop new drug for multiple cancer treatment

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a new drug called AT-406 with potential to treat multiple types of cancer.

30 Mar 2011

Metabolic Solutions initiates MSDC-0602 Phase 2a trial in patients with type 2 diabetes

Metabolic Solutions Development Company, a drug discovery and development company exploiting novel molecular targets to treat metabolic diseases, announced today that it has launched a Phase 2a trial for MSDC-0602, the company's second drug candidate for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

30 Mar 2011

Scientists to discover new estrogen receptor-signaling networks for breast cancer treatment

The quandary of breast cancer in women is deep: the female hormone, estrogen, is considered to be a quasi-fuel for developing breast cancer.

29 Mar 2011

SRI International, CDD receive NIAID grant to develop TB information repository

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, and Collaborative Drug Discovery, provider of a web-based drug discovery software platform, announced that they have been awarded a grant to support the first year of a software development project focused on tuberculosis drug discovery efforts.

29 Mar 2011

PPD introduces new mobile application for clinical trial searches

PPD, Inc. today announced it has launched its new Clinical Trials Mobile application for use on Apple iPad and Apple iPhone devices to help potential clinical research participants and investigators find clinical trials across a wide range of therapeutic areas.

29 Mar 2011

ADDF awards Yuma $249,810 grant for Alzheimer's research

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation announced today that it has awarded a grant of $249,810 to Yuma Therapeutics Corporation to develop small molecules to treat Alzheimer's disease.

28 Mar 2011

Molecular pharmacologist receives AACR Award for cancer research

Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., will receive the Eighth Annual AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research. Horwitz conducted pioneering research by discovering the mechanism of action of the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel, which prompted the development of this drug as an important therapy for many common solid tumors, including ovarian, breast, and lung carcinomas.

28 Mar 2011

Almac, BioFocus partner to provide FLT assays

BioFocus and Almac have initiated a collaboration which will provide BioFocus customers with compound screening and profiling services using Almac's FLEXYTETM fluorescence lifetime assays.

28 Mar 2011

Gates discusses foundation's global health priorities in India during visit to country

During a visit to the Indian state of Bihar, Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on Thursday discussed his foundation's work in India and global health priorities, ANI/Sify News reports.

28 Mar 2011

Zileuton can help reduce amyloid plaque formation and Alzheimer's development

A drug used to treat asthma has been shown to help reduce the formation of amyloid beta, a peptide in the brain that is implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Medicine.

28 Mar 2011

Biognosys brings proteomic breakthroughs to mainstream users

Biognosys, a leading provider of targeted proteomics solutions, announces the software platform mProphet for large-scale applications in industrial and academic research. The software was recently published in «Nature Methods»: With the new tool researchers can analyze complex proteomics data and generate statistically validated results.

From Biognosys 25 Mar 2011

New discovery on fat metabolism in worms can lead to novel obesity treatment

Researchers exploring human metabolism at the University of California, San Francisco have uncovered a handful of chemical compounds that regulate fat storage in worms, offering a new tool for understanding obesity and finding future treatments for diseases associated with obesity.

25 Mar 2011

Columbia University, Sanofi-aventis collaborate to develop innovative diabetes medicines

Sanofi-aventis announced today a research collaboration with Columbia University Medical Center for the development of innovative diabetes medicines.

25 Mar 2011

Molecular Devices signs distribution agreement with ChanTest

Molecular Devices, Inc. and ChanTest Corporation, leading providers of ion channel and GPCR drug discovery tools and solutions, have signed an agreement for Molecular Devices to distribute ChanTest's extensive portfolio of ion channel and GPCR cell lines on a non-exclusive basis.

25 Mar 2011

New Neurotez method can predict genetic factors responsible for AD

The new Neurotez method will allow for an elegant and rapid way to screen a large number of patient-derived samples and measure the degree of confidence in predicting a subject's risk for getting Alzheimer's disease, based on her/his TOMM40/APOE haplotype.

22 Mar 2011

FDA accepts Arisaph's ARI-3037MO IND for phase I human clinical trial

Arisaph Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held drug discovery biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted the Company's recently submitted Investigational New Drug application to evaluate ARI-3037MO in a phase I human clinical trial in healthy volunteers.

22 Mar 2011