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.

Computer simulations shed light on dynamic structure of major target for anti-cancer drugs

Using advanced computer simulations, University of Utah College of Pharmacy researchers have produced moving images of a protein complex that is an important target for anti-cancer drugs.

18 Aug 2012

Enzalutamide drug can extend life and improve QOL in men with advanced prostate cancer

The head of one of the UK's leading cancer research organisations has hailed a golden age in prostate cancer drug discovery as for the fourth time in two years results are published finding a new drug can significantly extend life.

16 Aug 2012

Aquapharm discovers new antibiotic compound against multi-drug resistant bacteria

A significant discovery in the development of next-generation antibiotics has been made by Scottish biotechnology company Aquapharm.

6 Aug 2012

Astellas announces closure of Urogenix research facility

Astellas Pharma Inc. announced that it decided to close Urogenix, Inc., an Astellas subsidiary, which is a research facility focusing on drug discovery in the field of urology.

6 Aug 2012

HSF1 increases expression of chaperones and supports cancer metastasis

Whitehead Institute researchers have found that increased expression of a specific set of genes is strongly associated with metastasis and death in patients with breast, colon, and lung cancers.

3 Aug 2012

Drug discovery research at University of Nottingham supported by SPT Labtech

SPT Labtech, global developer and manufacturer of high quality, robust and innovative automated laboratory equipment, is enabling a successful new venture at the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Biomolecular Science, with its comPOUND® sample storage system and comPILER® high throughput, tube-to-plate processing system.

From SPT Labtech 3 Aug 2012

Weill Cornell Medical College receives NCATS grant to fund Clinical and Translational Science Center

Weill Cornell Medical College has received $49.6 million from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to fund its Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC).

3 Aug 2012

Stemgent acquires Asterand’s Human Tissue Business for $9 million

Stemgent, Inc. announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Asterand Plc's Human Tissue Business for $9 million. Asterand provides a set of high quality, human-tissue based tools for drug and drug target discovery that is highly complementary to Stemgent's growing portfolio of innovative research products and services to advance cellular reprograming and stem cell research.

1 Aug 2012

Biomimetic bioartificial livers and cell toxicity assays: an interview with Dr. Joris Braspenning, CEO Medicyte

Biomimetic bioartificial livers are liver organoids based on synthetic equivalents of the human extracellular matrix (ECM) which will be seeded with human cells.

1 Aug 2012

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Prosetta partner to discover and develop new antiviral drugs

Prosetta Antiviral Inc today announced the execution of a strategic alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company to further discover and develop select drug candidates representing new, novel classes of antiviral drugs.

31 Jul 2012

Affymetrix second quarter total revenue increases to $66.4 million

Affymetrix, Inc., today reported its operating results for the second quarter of 2012. Total revenue for the quarter was $66.4 million, including approximately $1.4 million in revenue from eBioscience following the close of Affymetrix's acquisition of the company on June 25. This compares to total revenue of $64.7 million for the same period of 2011.

31 Jul 2012

Assay Depot launches virtual research laboratory

Assay Depot Inc. today announced the launch of a virtual research laboratory. Developed in partnership with AstraZeneca, the virtual laboratory is a powerful vendor relationship management (VRM) system that gives researchers easy access to a distributed network of thousands of research service providers located inside and outside the company.

30 Jul 2012

OX40 molecule responsible for airway inflammation in the lungs

A research team led by Xian Chang Li, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Transplantation Research Center, has shed light on how a population of lymphocytes, called CD4+ T cells, mature into various subsets of adult T helper cells.

30 Jul 2012

Insomnia: an interview with Dr Darryle Schoepp

Insomnia is a very common disorder. In medical terms it can affect a third of people. It affects elderly as well as non-elderly people, and is more common in women.

26 Jul 2012

Vanderbilt researchers receives new $2.1M grant to develop microbrain bioreactor

Take a millionth of a human brain and squeeze it into a special chamber the size of a mustard seed. Link it to a second chamber filled with cerebral spinal fluid and thread both of them with artificial blood vessels in order to create a microenvironment that makes the neurons and other brain cells behave as if they were in a living brain. Then surround the chambers with a battery of sensors that monitor how the cells respond when exposed to minute quantities of dietary toxins, disease organisms or new drugs under development.

25 Jul 2012

New large animal model for human cancer studies

A naturally occurring line of immunodeficient pigs can support the growth of human tumors injected under their skin, offering a promising new large animal model for studying human cancers and testing new drugs and treatment strategies.

24 Jul 2012

2-D models may often give researchers misleading results

Imagine millions of cancer cells organized in thousands of small divots. Hit these cells with drugs and when some cells die, you have a candidate for a cancer drug. But a review published this week in the journal Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery argues that these 2D models in fact offer very little information about a potential drug's effects in the body and may often give researchers misleading results.

21 Jul 2012

SGC, Life Technologies to generate first-ever master set of epigenetic recombinant antibodies

Life Technologies Corporation today announced it has signed a collaborative partnership with the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), and several groups of leading expert scientists in antibody technology at the Universities of Chicago and Toronto, to generate a first-ever master set of quality epigenetic recombinant antibodies for use in disease-related research.

20 Jul 2012

Top 5 Pharma selects Certara’s PKS Online for PK/PD analysis

Certara, a leading provider of scientific software and consulting services to improve productivity and decision-making from drug discovery through drug development, announced that a Top 5 Pharma selected PKS Online as the platform of choice to support their regulatory compliant NCA analysis for clinical pharmacology.

20 Jul 2012

Scientists to create new drugs with bone formation stimulating activities

A Simon Fraser University researcher is leading a team of scientists working to create new drugs to stimulate bone regeneration - research that will be furthered by a $2.5 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

20 Jul 2012

Drug Discovery News and Research

Further Reading

Computer simulations shed light on dynamic structure of major target for anti-cancer drugs

Enzalutamide drug can extend life and improve QOL in men with advanced prostate cancer

Aquapharm discovers new antibiotic compound against multi-drug resistant bacteria

Astellas announces closure of Urogenix research facility

HSF1 increases expression of chaperones and supports cancer metastasis

Drug discovery research at University of Nottingham supported by SPT Labtech

Weill Cornell Medical College receives NCATS grant to fund Clinical and Translational Science Center

Stemgent acquires Asterand’s Human Tissue Business for $9 million

Biomimetic bioartificial livers and cell toxicity assays: an interview with Dr. Joris Braspenning, CEO Medicyte

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Prosetta partner to discover and develop new antiviral drugs

Affymetrix second quarter total revenue increases to $66.4 million

Assay Depot launches virtual research laboratory

OX40 molecule responsible for airway inflammation in the lungs

Insomnia: an interview with Dr Darryle Schoepp

Vanderbilt researchers receives new $2.1M grant to develop microbrain bioreactor

New large animal model for human cancer studies

2-D models may often give researchers misleading results

SGC, Life Technologies to generate first-ever master set of epigenetic recombinant antibodies

Top 5 Pharma selects Certara’s PKS Online for PK/PD analysis

Scientists to create new drugs with bone formation stimulating activities

Drug Discovery - Second Edition eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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