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.

Astex earns GBP5.9 M milestone payment from GSK for fragment-based screening platform

Astex Therapeutics, the UK-based biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for oncology and virology, announced that it has achieved multiple early milestones in its fragment-based drug discovery collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline which commenced in November 2009.

3 May 2011

UIC receives federal contract to develop antibiotics against three bacterial infections

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology have been awarded a federal contract for up to $13.8 million to develop antibiotics to treat anthrax, tularemia and plague.

28 Apr 2011

GE Healthcare reaches agreement to acquire Applied Precision

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company, today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Applied Precision, Inc., a supplier of innovative cellular imaging technologies for the fast-growing cell biology and biomedical research sectors.

28 Apr 2011

Janssen, Beactica enter drug discovery agreement

Beactica, the leading Swedish fragment-based drug discovery company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Janssen Research & Development, a division of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV.

28 Apr 2011

Proteostasis acquires Harvard University's two novel protein target licenses

Proteostasis Therapeutics announced today that it has acquired two exclusive licenses from Harvard University to technologies for enhancing the activity of a key cellular protein clearance mechanism, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

27 Apr 2011

PPD reports net revenue of $383.2 million for first quarter 2011

PPD, Inc. today reported its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

27 Apr 2011

New discoveries in stem-cell technology

A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has made two significant stem-cell discoveries that advance medicine and human health by creating powerful new approaches for using stem cells and stem-cell-like technology.

26 Apr 2011

Signaling pathway reveals mechanism for B cell differentiation in immune response

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology (RCAI) has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells. The finding establishes a role for the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in B cell differentiation, a key step toward the development of B cell-targeted drugs for treatment of autoimmune diseases and allergies.

25 Apr 2011

Kadmon Pharmaceuticals and Nano Terra announce worldwide licensing agreement

Kadmon Pharmaceuticals LLC, and Nano Terra, Inc., today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Kadmon has been granted a perpetual, worldwide exclusive license to three novel, clinical-stage product candidates owned by Nano Terra as well as rights to Nano Terra’s drug discovery platform, Pharmacomer™ Technology. The product candidates and technology platform will be transferred to a newly formed joint venture, NT Life Sciences (“NT Life”), co-owned by Kadmon and Nano Terra, which will act as the licensor and recipient of any licensing or royalty fees subject to the agreement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

25 Apr 2011

Nano Terra, Kadmon sign deal to license novel product candidates

25 Apr 2011

Valuable insight into immune response

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells.

22 Apr 2011

Researchers discover new compound to fight against shingles

Researchers at the University of Georgia and Yale University have discovered a compound with the potential to be more effective than existing agents in treating the very painful blisters known as shingles-a condition that affects up to 30 percent of Americans, mostly elderly, and for which no specific treatment exists.

22 Apr 2011

RTCA HT instrument from Roche employs high-throughput real-time cell analysis

The new xCELLigence RTCA HT Instrument from Roche (SWX:RO) (SWX:ROG) (Pink Sheets:RHHBY) rounds out the Diagnostics Applied Science's portfolio in real-time cell analysis with a high-throughput product.

21 Apr 2011

ARIAD executes three exclusive out-license agreements for ARGENT cell-signaling regulation technology

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced execution of three exclusive out-license agreements for separate aspects of its ARGENT™ cell-signaling regulation technology.

20 Apr 2011

Bio-IT World honors CliniWorks with 2011 Best Practices Award

CliniWorks Inc., developer of the AccelFind™ clinical evidence and research-acceleration software platform, announced that it received the prestigious Judge's Choice Award in Bio-IT World's 2011 Best Practices Award competition. The Award was received by CliniWorks founders Nitzan Sneh and Udi Meirav in front of a standing-room-only audience at the Boston World Trade Center on April 13, 2011.

18 Apr 2011

Study: Simple illusion can reduce arthritic pain

A serendipitous discovery by academics at The University of Nottingham has shown that a simple illusion can significantly reduce — and in some cases even temporarily eradicate — arthritic pain in the hand.

15 Apr 2011

Simulations Plus announces release of MedChem Studio 2.0

Simulations Plus, Inc., a leading provider of simulation and modeling software for pharmaceutical discovery and development, announced today the release of MedChem Studio™ version 2.0 with an impressive set of expanded and powerful capabilities for data mining and de novo molecule design.

12 Apr 2011

Experts to discuss latest findings in IBD research at Rome meeting

Experts from 11 countries will gather this week in Rome to discuss innovative strategies for studying and treating Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

12 Apr 2011

Shrink Nanotechnologies to acquire Nanopoint

Shrink Nanotechnologies, Inc., an innovative high technology company, announced today that it has executed a binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Hawaii-based Nanopoint Inc., a biomedical instrumentation and microfluidics company with global distribution for its award-winning suites of life sciences products.

12 Apr 2011

Takeda, Heptares collaborate to develop new drugs against CNS disorders

Heptares Therapeutics and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company today announced the formation of a two-year drug discovery collaboration focused on a single G-protein coupled receptor that plays an important role in the pathology of central nervous system disorders.

11 Apr 2011