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.

ACEA Biosciences receives new U. S. Patent for chemical compound screening

ACEA Biosciences, a pioneer in the development of high-performance microelectronic systems for cell-based assays, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical research, is pleased to report the issuance of a new U. S. Patent for chemical compound screening, with important applications in the development of new pharmaceutical products.

17 Feb 2011

Amicus to present additional positive data from Amigal Phase 2 extension study for Fabry disease

Amicus Therapeutics today announced that additional positive data from the ongoing Phase 2 extension study of its investigational drug Amigal™ (migalastat HCl) for Fabry disease will be presented at the Lysosomal Disease Network WORLD Symposium in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 16-18th, 2011.

17 Feb 2011

GAVI chair calls for greater reductions in vaccine prices for developing countries

On Monday, the same day the GAVI Alliance helped oversee the roll out of a routine pneumococcal vaccine in Kenya, GAVI chairman Dagfinn Hoybraten highlighted the need for greater reductions in vaccine prices in developing countries during an interview with Reuters, the news service reports. The piece examines the funding mechanism in place to finance the pneumococcal vaccines, known as Advance Market Commitment (AMC), as well as the budget shortfall facing the group (Kelland, 2/14).

16 Feb 2011

Researchers use computers to capture chemical signal structure that triggers metastatic cancer

In cancer and other pathological diseases, researchers are discovering that packaging is important: specifically, how DNA - about two meters long when unwound and stretched - coils up and compacts neatly inside the nucleus of a cell.

15 Feb 2011

Public-sector research has had an immediate effect on improving public health: Study

AUTM President Ashley Stevens, D. Phil. (Oxon), CLP is the lead author of The Role of Public Sector Research in the Discovery of Drugs and Vaccines, a paper published in the Feb. 10 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

14 Feb 2011

BioCentury features ImmunGene's interferon payload technology and cancer antibodies

ImmunGene, Inc., a privately held drug development company focused on targeted antibody therapeutics, announced today that a profile of the company and its interferon payload technology platform and drug discovery pipeline is featured in the February 7 issue of BioCentury, one of the most widely read publications in the pharma and biotech industries.

14 Feb 2011

CX3CL1 signaling chemical can offer better understanding of Parkinson's disease

Targeting the neuroinflammatory causes of Parkinson's disease with a naturally present brain chemical signal could offer a better understanding of the clinical mechanisms of the disease and open a future therapeutic window, reports a team of researchers from the University of South Florida Department Neurosurgery and Brain Repair and the James A. Haley Veterans' Administration Hospital, Tampa.

14 Feb 2011

Scientists produce SR-3306 compound to protect brain cells from Parkinson's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have produced the first known compound to show significant effectiveness in protecting brain cells directly affected by Parkinson's disease, a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder.

13 Feb 2011

Physicist creates technology that may enhance pharma industry's early drug discovery capabilities

A Purdue physicist has created technology to detect motion inside three-dimensional tumor spheroids, which may enhance the pharmaceutical industry's early drug discovery capabilities.

10 Feb 2011

Targacept initiates TC-6987 Phase 2 study in patients with asthma, Type 2 diabetes

Targacept, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel NNR Therapeutics™, today announced the initiation of separate Phase 2 clinical studies of its product candidate TC-6987 in disorders characterized by inflammation, one in asthma and one in Type 2 diabetes.

9 Feb 2011

Evotec signs definitive agreement to acquire all shares in Kinaxo

Evotec AG today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire all shares in Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH, a Munich-based drug discovery alliance company supporting the development of targeted drugs.

9 Feb 2011

Protect Pharma completes sale of two patents and patents-applications to Grunenthal

Protect Pharmaceutical Corporation announced that it has completed the sale of two patents and patents-applications to Grunenthal GmbH, a German specialty pharmaceutical company that is a pioneer in pain drug discovery and research. The patent portfolio includes innovative pain drugs that address the large and underserved pain market.

9 Feb 2011

Single molecule imaging movies of living cell membranes clarify enigma surrounding receptor molecule behaviors

Unprecedented single molecule imaging movies of living cell membranes, taken by a research team based at Kyoto University and the University of New Mexico, have clarified a decades-old enigma surrounding receptor molecule behaviors. The results, appearing in the latest issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, promise to open the door to new possibilities for drug development.

9 Feb 2011

Ansaris receives milestone payment for identification of kinase-related compound for cancer, autoimmune diseases

Ansaris announced today that it has received a milestone payment for the successful identification of a kinase-related compound under its drug discovery collaboration with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Ono will initiate the preclinical study of the identified compound. This collaboration between Ansaris and Ono was established to focus on the discovery of kinase-related compounds for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

8 Feb 2011

Elan 2010 total revenue increases 5% to $1,169.7 million

Elan Corporation, plc today reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2010 financial results and provided financial guidance for 2011.

8 Feb 2011

Researchers develop new method for drug discovery using math to combat HIV, other diseases

Using mathematical concepts, Princeton researchers have developed a method of discovering new drugs for a range of diseases by calculating which physical properties of biological molecules may predict their effectiveness as medicines.

8 Feb 2011

Tufts announces public launch of Institute for Biomedical Partnerships, HUB website

Tufts University today announced the public launch of the Tufts Institute for Biomedical Partnerships website/HUB: www.tuftspharmapartners.org.

8 Feb 2011

AMRI fourth quarter total revenue increases 12% to $48.6 million

AMRI today reported financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2010.

7 Feb 2011

JDRF, Eli Lilly sign agreement to fund type 1 diabetes research for re-generative medicine

Eli Lilly and Company and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation today announced that they have signed an agreement to fund early-stage research that could enable patients with type 1 diabetes to regenerate insulin-producing cells destroyed by the disease.

4 Feb 2011

Isis commences ISIS-FXIRx Phase 1 study for treatment of clotting disorders

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the initiation of a Phase 1 study of ISIS-FXIRx, an antisense drug designed to treat clotting disorders. ISIS-FXIRx inhibits the production of Factor XI, a clotting factor that is an important component of the coagulation pathway. Because of its role in the intrinsic coagulation pathway, inhibition of Factor XI could offer an effective approach for preventing the formation of blood clots with a lower risk of bleeding.

2 Feb 2011

Drug Discovery News and Research

Further Reading

ACEA Biosciences receives new U. S. Patent for chemical compound screening

Amicus to present additional positive data from Amigal Phase 2 extension study for Fabry disease

GAVI chair calls for greater reductions in vaccine prices for developing countries

Researchers use computers to capture chemical signal structure that triggers metastatic cancer

Public-sector research has had an immediate effect on improving public health: Study

BioCentury features ImmunGene's interferon payload technology and cancer antibodies

CX3CL1 signaling chemical can offer better understanding of Parkinson's disease

Scientists produce SR-3306 compound to protect brain cells from Parkinson's disease

Physicist creates technology that may enhance pharma industry's early drug discovery capabilities

Targacept initiates TC-6987 Phase 2 study in patients with asthma, Type 2 diabetes

Evotec signs definitive agreement to acquire all shares in Kinaxo

Protect Pharma completes sale of two patents and patents-applications to Grunenthal

Single molecule imaging movies of living cell membranes clarify enigma surrounding receptor molecule behaviors

Ansaris receives milestone payment for identification of kinase-related compound for cancer, autoimmune diseases

Elan 2010 total revenue increases 5% to $1,169.7 million

Researchers develop new method for drug discovery using math to combat HIV, other diseases

Tufts announces public launch of Institute for Biomedical Partnerships, HUB website

AMRI fourth quarter total revenue increases 12% to $48.6 million

JDRF, Eli Lilly sign agreement to fund type 1 diabetes research for re-generative medicine

Isis commences ISIS-FXIRx Phase 1 study for treatment of clotting disorders

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