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.

BIOCIUS and Agilent launch RF360 High Resolution System for high-throughput screening of in vitro ADME assays

BIOCIUS Life Sciences, Inc. and Agilent Technologies Inc. today announced the launch of the RF360 High Resolution System for high-throughput screening of in vitro ADME assays. Combining the accurate mass capabilities of Agilent's time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometers and the unprecedented sample processing speed of RapidFire® technology, the instrument revolutionizes in vitro ADME analysis by eliminating the method development bottleneck in drug discovery.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 20 May 2010

Vanderbilt University orders Bruker's AVANCE III 900 US2 NMR spectrometer

Bruker, the leader in analytical magnetic resonance instrumentation, announces a major multi-systems NMR order from Vanderbilt University, including an ultra-high field AVANCE™ III 900 US2 NMR spectrometer. This purchase was made possible in large part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Vanderbilt will use these NMR instruments for a broad range of biophysical and structural analyses in biomedical research, as well as for cancer drug discovery using fragment-based approaches and structure-based drug design.

20 May 2010

New study uses NMR in drug design

A new study by a team of researchers led by Jeffrey Peng, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, is using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, to move drug design into groundbreaking consideration of the dynamic flexibility of drugs and their targets.

20 May 2010

Targacept commences Phase 2 clinical proof of concept trial of TC-5619 in adults with ADHD

Targacept, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel NNR Therapeutics (TM), today announced that it has initiated a Phase 2 clinical proof of concept trial of TC-5619 in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). TC-5619 is a novel small molecule that is highly selective for the alpha7 neuronal nicotinic receptor, which Targacept refers to as NNR, and was discovered by Targacept scientists using Targacept's proprietary drug discovery platform known as Pentad (TM).

19 May 2010

Evotec announces compound in strategic alliance with Boehringer Ingelheim advances into clinical trials

Evotec AG today announced that a compound in its strategic alliance with Boehringer Ingelheim has advanced into clinical trials. With the initiation of the Phase I clinical studies for this compound, Evotec will receive a milestone payment of EUR 2.0 million.

19 May 2010

Caliper to sell RapidTrace solid phase extraction and TurboVap evaporation product lines to Biotage for $16.5M

Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life sciences research, today announced that it reached an agreement to sell its RapidTrace® solid phase extraction and TurboVap® evaporation product lines to Biotage AB for $16.5 million in cash.

18 May 2010

Pfizer, Washington University announce indications discovery collaboration

In a first-of-a-kind collaboration between academia and industry, Pfizer Inc. will give scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis unprecedented access to information regarding more than 500 pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical candidates in a partnership that focuses on discovering new uses for existing compounds.

18 May 2010

WaferGen Biosystems first-quarter revenues increase to $389,785

WaferGen Biosystems, Inc., a leading developer of state-of-the-art genome analysis systems, today reported performance results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

17 May 2010

Caliper Life Sciences' CDAS unit awarded new funding commitment for EPA ToxCast screening program

Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life sciences research, today announced that its Caliper Discovery Alliances and Services (CDAS) unit has been awarded a new funding commitment for $2.9 million under its contract with the Environmental Protection Agency for the EPA's ToxCast screening program.

14 May 2010

Tripos releases SYBYL-X 1.1 molecular modeling suite

Tripos®, a leading provider of drug discovery informatics products and services, today announced the release and general availability of SYBYL-X Version 1.1. This new release focuses on enhancing research productivity for scientists in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, flavors and fragrances, and related industries, featuring faster navigation, new menus and toolbars, and new ways to approach life science molecular discovery projects. Previous SYBYL versions have been the benchmark for the industry in molecular modeling, and customers using this new, next generation version have given it high marks.

13 May 2010

Evotec first-quarter operating loss decreases 93% to € 1.5 m

Evotec AG today reported financial results and corporate updates for the first quarter of 2010.

12 May 2010

Academic scientist receives $125,000 from ADDF/LBDA program to study LBD

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation and the Lewy Body Dementia Association announced today the recipient of their first partnership research award through the Lewy Body Dementia Biomarker Research Program.

12 May 2010

NiKem Research receives Italian authorization to perform toxicology studies of NCEs in rodents

NiKem Research is pleased to announce that it has received on March 29th 2010, from the Italian Ministry of Health (Decree N. 69/2010-B), the authorization to perform acute and sub-chronic toxicology studies (upto 28 days) in all rodent species for preliminary safety evaluation of novel chemical entities (NCEs). Toxicokinetic (TK) studies are also allowed to correlate plasma and/or organ exposure of NCEs (and metabolites) to tolerated doses in toxicology studies.

12 May 2010

Optivia Biotechnology launches OptiDDI Suite for assessing transporter-related DDIs

Optivia Biotechnology Inc., a leading provider of in vitro transporter assay services, today announced the launch of the OptiDDITM Suite, a novel assay panel that assesses the most clinically significant transporter-related drug-drug interactions (DDIs), as identified by the International Transporter Consortium (ITC) in its report "Membrane Transporters in Drug Development" (Nature Reviews-Drug Discovery, March 2010).

12 May 2010

Researchers develop anti-angiogenic molecule SR16388 for treatment of MM

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, announced today that researchers have developed an anti-angiogenic molecule SR16388 that has demonstrated preclinical antitumor activity against multiple myeloma.

12 May 2010

MaxCyte STX Scalable Transfection System acquired by CCS Cell Culture Service

MaxCyte, Inc., the pioneer in scalable, high performance cell loading systems, is pleased to announce that CCS Cell Culture Service GmbH has acquired the MaxCyte® STX™ Scalable Transfection System to develop and optimize cells for the pharmaceutical industry.

12 May 2010

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals reports increased revenue in first-quarter 2010

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company utilizing innovative technology to fuel drug discovery and clinical development of novel treatments for central nervous system disorders, today reported its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

11 May 2010

Evotec and Genentech sign drug discovery deal

Evotec AG today announced that it has entered into a multi-year integrated drug discovery alliance with Genentech Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group (SWX:RO) (SIX:ROG) (Pink Sheets:RHHBY), to discover novel small molecule therapeutics.

10 May 2010

Findings may help develop a new class of drugs for diabetes

More than half a century after researchers identified a promising way to treat diabetes based on blocking the breakdown of insulin in the body, a research team led by a scientist at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have developed potent molecules that can do just that.

10 May 2010

MIT, South Africa announce plans to join patent pool for 'neglected diseases'

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) will join the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases, Science|Business reports.

10 May 2010