Drug Discovery News and Research

RSS

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.

ADDF, AFTD announce recipients of Frontotemporal Dementia Drug Discovery Program award

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and the Association for Frontotemporal Dementias (AFTD) announced today the recipients of their third annual research award, Frontotemporal Dementia Drug Discovery Program. The goal of the program is to accelerate the development of novel therapies for frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The program will provide a total of $1,200,000 in research grants over four years.

8 Apr 2010

Sigma-Aldrich, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma enter distribution agreement for RESOMER polymers

Sigma-Aldrich® announced today it has entered into a distribution agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, to offer its portfolio of RESOMER biodegradable polylactide (PLA) and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) polymers to the research community.

8 Apr 2010

Sigma-Aldrich, HSI sign distribution agreement for patented stable isotope labeled synthetic reagents

Sigma-Aldrich® announced today that it has signed an agreement with New Mexico Highlands University through its licensee, Highlands Stable Isotope Corp., to exclusively distribute a novel set of patented stable isotope labeled synthetic reagents.

7 Apr 2010

Jantibody Therapeutics, Pfenex collaborate in production of HSP-avidin fusion proteins

Boston BioCom LLC today announced the successful completion of a collaborative research agreement between its Jantibody Therapeutics LLC subsidiary and Pfenex Inc., resulting in the rapid production of a HSP-avidin fusion protein for the Jantibodies self-assembling vaccines platform.

7 Apr 2010

Astrogenetix narrows in on MRSA virulence onboard space shuttle Discovery

Astronauts on board Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-131) activated an experiment this morning as part of the ninth scientific payload for Astrogenetix, an Austin, Texas-based commercial biotech company. Astrogenetix is conducting the International Space Station National Laboratory Pathfinder Vaccine (NLP-V) missions to take advantage of the unique conditions of microgravity to uncover changes in bacteria that can be targeted to create new vaccines and therapeutics.

6 Apr 2010

Src can be most promising targets for cancer therapy

Src (short for sarcoma) is a family of proto-oncogenic tyrosine kinases active in many cancer tumors, including medulloblastoma, the most common malignant cancer in children. Src represents one of the most promising targets for cancer therapy.

6 Apr 2010

Alpha cells in pancreas can convert into insulin-producing beta cells: Study

Alpha cells in the pancreas, which do not produce insulin, can convert into insulin-producing beta cells, advancing the prospect of regenerating beta cells as a cure for type 1 diabetes. The findings come from a study at the University of Geneva, co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, that is published today in the online edition of the scientific journal Nature.

6 Apr 2010

SCYNEXIS' SCY-635 inhibitor abstracts accepted for presentation at EASL Annual Meeting

Drug discovery company, SCYNEXIS, Inc. today announced that multiple abstracts related to the Company's cyclophilin inhibitor, SCY-635, were accepted for presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna, Austria, April 14-18, 2010.

6 Apr 2010

Isis Pharmaceuticals to lease new 176,000 square foot research facility from BioMed Realty Trust

BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. today announced that it has expanded its strategic real estate partnership with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. BioMed extended its lease for Isis' current facility at Faraday Avenue in Carlsbad, California and added a lease for a new build-to-suit project, increasing the total leased space to approximately 204,700 square feet.

5 Apr 2010

AllCells expands office, laboratory production space and staff

AllCells LLC, a leading supplier of primary cell types, today announced it has completed its expansion into 10,000 additional square feet of office and laboratory production space located in Emeryville, California.

5 Apr 2010

Hamamatsu launches FDSS/uCELL imaging plate reader for kinetic cell-based assay development

Hamamatsu has announced the release of the FDSS/uCELL, an affordable new imaging plate reader for kinetic cell-based assay development, including GPCR and ion channel research. The uCELL ("micro cell") offers a cost-effective way for biotechnology companies, research institutes, and clinical research organizations to introduce the highly reliable and advanced Hamamatsu FDSS (Functional Drug Screening System) technology to their daily operations.

2 Apr 2010

Innovative drug design wins medical research prize

The development of a new way to treat iron overload disease has won the 2010 Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund Prize for Medical Research.

1 Apr 2010

New development in treatment of African Sleeping Sickness

African sleeping sickness or Human African Typanosomiasis is a potentially fatal disease affecting 50 to 70 thousand Africans each year. Carried by the bite tsetse fly this fatal disease is actually caused by a tiny parasite that attacks the nervous system, brain, spinal column resulting in mental confusion and finally death.

1 Apr 2010

Metabolon awarded U.S. patents for metabolomics methods

Metabolon, Inc., the leader in global metabolism through biomarker discovery and analysis, announced today the grant of US Patent 7,682,783 and US Patent 7,682,784 entitled "Methods for Drug Discovery, Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Using Metabolomics". The USPTO awarded the patents to Metabolon on March 23, 2010. The issued claims in the new patents are for uses of metabolomics to identify diagnostic biomarkers for depression and schizophrenia by profiling classes of metabolites in a sample.

1 Apr 2010

Symyx Technologies forms alliance with Pistoia Alliance

Symyx Technologies, Inc. today announced it has joined the Pistoia Alliance, a non-profit group that promotes collaboration to streamline non-competitive elements of pharmaceutical and life science discovery workflows. The alliance was initially formed by major global pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and AstraZeneca.

1 Apr 2010

ADDF grants Signum Biosciences $270,000 for evaluating PP2A-modulatory compounds as AD therapeutics

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced today that it is providing a grant of $270,000 to Signum Biosciences, Inc. (Princeton, NJ) to evaluate small-molecule, orally delivered Protein Phosphatase 2a (PP2A)-modulatory compounds as disease-modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease.

1 Apr 2010

Major breakthrough may help develop low toxicity drugs for sleeping sickness

Scientists from the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee - working together with partners at the University of York and the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto - have made a major breakthrough in identifying new treatments for a fatal disease which infects tens of thousands of Africans each year.

1 Apr 2010

BioCision, Biohit announce co-promotion program

BioCision LLC today announced that it has agreed to a co-promotion program with Biohit Inc.. Biohit's ErgoTube microcentrifuge tubes will now be branded and sold by both Biohit Inc. and BioCision. In addition, Biohit Inc. will cross-promote BioCision's highly thermo-conductive CoolRack microfuge tube racks for use in combination with ErgoTubes.

31 Mar 2010

2010 BIO International Convention to discuss issues that impact drug discovery and development

The 2010 BIO International Convention will feature a robust health and medical program highlighting the latest scientific breakthroughs and policy and business development issues that impact drug discovery and development. Hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Convention will be held May 3-6, 2010 in Chicago, Ill. at McCormick Place.

31 Mar 2010

GSK, Isis Pharmaceuticals collaborate to develop new therapeutics for rare and serious disease

GlaxoSmithKline and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today a new strategic alliance that will apply the Isis antisense drug discovery platform to seek out and develop new therapeutics against targets for rare and serious disease, including infectious diseases and some conditions causing blindness.

31 Mar 2010

Drug Discovery News and Research

Further Reading

ADDF, AFTD announce recipients of Frontotemporal Dementia Drug Discovery Program award

Sigma-Aldrich, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma enter distribution agreement for RESOMER polymers

Sigma-Aldrich, HSI sign distribution agreement for patented stable isotope labeled synthetic reagents

Jantibody Therapeutics, Pfenex collaborate in production of HSP-avidin fusion proteins

Astrogenetix narrows in on MRSA virulence onboard space shuttle Discovery

Src can be most promising targets for cancer therapy

Alpha cells in pancreas can convert into insulin-producing beta cells: Study

SCYNEXIS' SCY-635 inhibitor abstracts accepted for presentation at EASL Annual Meeting

Isis Pharmaceuticals to lease new 176,000 square foot research facility from BioMed Realty Trust

AllCells expands office, laboratory production space and staff

Hamamatsu launches FDSS/uCELL imaging plate reader for kinetic cell-based assay development

Innovative drug design wins medical research prize

New development in treatment of African Sleeping Sickness

Metabolon awarded U.S. patents for metabolomics methods

Symyx Technologies forms alliance with Pistoia Alliance

ADDF grants Signum Biosciences $270,000 for evaluating PP2A-modulatory compounds as AD therapeutics

Major breakthrough may help develop low toxicity drugs for sleeping sickness

BioCision, Biohit announce co-promotion program

2010 BIO International Convention to discuss issues that impact drug discovery and development

GSK, Isis Pharmaceuticals collaborate to develop new therapeutics for rare and serious disease

eBook: Mastering plate reader assays for drug discovery eBook

Latest eBooks

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (3rd edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Microbiome (1st edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition)

Advancing degrader and proximity-based drug development

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®