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.

UTHealth Biotechnology Commercialization Center leases over three-quarters of available space

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) announced that its Biotechnology Commercialization Center (BCC) has leased more than three-quarters of its available space to eight Texas-based startups in less than a year. The center's focus is to assist biotech entrepreneurs and small companies with the translation of discoveries into innovative health solutions.

8 Jul 2010

Report shows more than one way to get rid of cholesterol

Many of us are simply overloaded with cholesterol, and now a report in the July issue of Cell Metabolism brings what might be good news: There is more than one way to get rid of that cholesterol, which can otherwise lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease.

8 Jul 2010

Aquapharm Biodiscovery signs research agreement with AMRI

Aquapharm Biodiscovery, a leading marine biotechnology company, announced today it has signed a research agreement with Albany Molecular Research to identify novel drug-like compounds and scaffolds with anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory activity from Aquapharm's marine natural products library derived from its extensive collection of marine micro-organisms.

7 Jul 2010

New research shows cellular changes in fat tissue lead to type 2 diabetes

Cellular changes in fat tissue-not the immune system-lead to the "hyperinflammation" characteristic of obesity-related glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati.

7 Jul 2010

Molecular Templates enters into oncology drug discovery and translation research agreement with ImClone

Molecular Templates announced today that it has entered into a collaborative oncology drug discovery and translation research agreement with ImClone Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company.

7 Jul 2010

Major biological resource centre increases cell line supply capacity with TAP’s automated cryovial filling system

The Automation Partnership (TAP), world leader in the design and development of innovative automation for life science applications announced its Fill-It™, benchtop automated dispensing system, is being used at one of the world's largest biological resource centres to improve the precision of filling and to significantly reduce the time required to dispense cells into large numbers of cryovials.

6 Jul 2010

MabCent finds extraordinary life forms in the Arctic

During its short existence the Centre on Marine Bioactives and Drug Discovery (MabCent) in Tromsø has analysed some 70,000 fractions of Arctic marine organisms. Patents on two molecules have been applied for and applications for another 20 will soon follow.

3 Jul 2010

Roche, X-Chem sign collaborative agreement

X-Chem, Inc. today announced the signing of a multi-year collaborative agreement with Roche to apply X-Chem's proprietary platform to the rapid discovery of drug candidates against several of Roche's high-value therapeutic targets.

2 Jul 2010

Advanced Cancer Therapeutics secures $10M in investments

Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT), a for-profit private company dedicated to bringing new anti-cancer therapies to market, today announced that it has secured $10 million in investments from high net-worth individuals and institutions. This round of investment, which closed six months ahead of the company's year-end goal, will provide ACT additional capital to continue its development and commercialization of potentially lifesaving therapeutics for cancer patients.

2 Jul 2010

Aptuit to acquire GSK's research business in Verona

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Aptuit, Inc. announced today that they have finalized an agreement for Aptuit to acquire operations at GSK's Medicines Research Centre in Verona, Italy. The arrangement, which is effective as of July 1, 2010, provides for ongoing employment of the staff at the centre and for Aptuit to supply GSK with R&D services from the facilities. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

1 Jul 2010

Florida Biomedical Research Program awards $2M in grants to Scripps Research Institute scientists

The Florida Biomedical Research Program has awarded $2 million in biomedical research grants to three scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute.

1 Jul 2010

Celsis IVT files patent infringement lawsuit against Invitrogen, CellzDirect

Celsis In Vitro, Inc. announced today that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Invitrogen Corporation and CellzDirect, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago and has moved for a preliminary injunction. Invitrogen, the parent of CellzDirect, is itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Life Technologies of Carlsbad, California.

1 Jul 2010

Gene diagnosis to be featured at 9th INT'L BIO FORUM & BIO EXPO JAPAN

9th INT'L BIO FORUM & BIO EXPO JAPAN, organized by Reed Exhibitions Japan, will come back again as Asia's largest bio-event from June 30 - July 2, 2010. "Gene diagnosis" is one of the featured topics for this year.

30 Jun 2010

Recent, upcoming FDA efforts address rare, 'neglected' diseases

The FDA's new rare disease review group will hold its first public hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss how to expand efforts to develop treatments for rare diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people, Reuters

30 Jun 2010

Serotonin promotes beta cell expansion during pregnancy, offers possible cure for type 1 diabetes

Researchers funded by JDRF have discovered that the hormone, serotonin, may be involved in the increase of insulin-producing beta cells during pregnancy.

29 Jun 2010

Emerald, FORMA sign strategic partnership for structure-based design of cancer drug candidates

Emerald BioStructures, a leading provider of integrated structural biology services, and FORMA Therapeutics, a drug discovery company, today announced the signing of a strategic partnership for the structure-based design of cancer drug candidates for FORMA's pipeline.

28 Jun 2010

Fate Therapeutics recognized with Red Herring's North America 100 award

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the Company received Red Herring's North America 100 award, a prestigious list honoring the year's most promising private and innovative companies from the North American business region. The nominees were evaluated by the Red Herring editorial team on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy and integration into their respective industries.

28 Jun 2010

Gilead Sciences signs definitive agreement to acquire CGI Pharmaceuticals

Gilead Sciences, Inc. and CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held, development-stage pharmaceutical company focused on small molecule chemistry and kinase biology, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement pursuant to which Gilead will acquire CGI. Under the terms of the agreement, Gilead will acquire CGI for up to $120 million, the majority as an upfront payment and the remaining based on clinical development progress, all of which will be financed through available cash on hand.

25 Jun 2010

New method to synthesize drug candidates for testing

Some drugs may be more effective the longer they last inside the body. To prevent such drugs from being broken down too rapidly, pharmaceutical manufacturers often attach a fluorine-containing structure called a trifluoromethyl group. However, the processes now used require harsh reaction conditions or only work in a small number of cases, limiting their usefulness for synthesizing new drug candidates for testing.

25 Jun 2010

New research suggests resveratrol may inhibit pathogenic blood vessel formation

Current research suggests that resveratrol, a naturally occurring compound found in red wine, grapes, blueberries, peanuts, and other plants, inhibits pathogenic new blood vessel growth.

25 Jun 2010