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.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals receives payment from Roche to initiate pre-IND studies for RNAi therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has received a milestone payment from its partner Roche related to initiation of pre-IND (investigational new drug application) studies for an RNAi therapeutics product candidate.

7 Jan 2010

Ensemble Discovery initiates strategic alliance with Pfizer

Ensemble Discovery today announced the initiation of a strategic alliance with Pfizer Inc. to discover and develop drug candidates of a novel class against a number of high-value pharmaceutical targets.

6 Jan 2010

Findings open up significant possibilities for developing micro-screening devices for drug discovery

A Nobel-winning process for testing new drugs to treat diseases such as Huntington's, Parkinson's, and muscular dystrophy is getting an electrical charge.

6 Jan 2010

Biotime ships six ACTCellerate progenitor cell lines to Millipore

BioTime, Inc. announced today that it has initiated shipments of stem cell research products to its worldwide distributor, Millipore Corporation, according to the terms of the co-marketing agreement between the two companies that was announced on July 9, 2009. BioTime has shipped inventory of six ACTCellerate™ progenitor cell lines to Millipore and plans to begin shipments of additional cell lines and ESpan™ cell growth media in the next several weeks.

6 Jan 2010

CBI signs definitive share purchase agreement to acquire GL Biochem

Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. (“CBI”) is pleased to announced it has entered into a revised and binding definitive share purchase agreement to acquire the parent of Shanghai-based GL

4 Jan 2010

DMET genotyping platform screens for 1256 genetic variations in 170 genes

It's the ultimate goal in the treatment of cancer: tailoring a person's therapy based on his or her genetic makeup. While a lofty goal, scientists are steadily moving forward, rapidly exploiting new technologies. Researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center report a significant advance in this field of research using a new chip that looks for hundreds of mutations in dozen of genes.

29 Dec 2009

Emerald BioStructures engineers new allosteric small molecule modulators of the PDE4 enzyme

Emerald BioStructures (formerly deCODE biostructures) announced today a publication in the December 27, 2009 advance online issue of Nature Biotechnology, detailing the application of structure-based drug design (SBDD) to engineer new allosteric small molecule modulators of the enzyme phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), with reduced side effects. According to the paper, the researchers established the structural basis of PDE4 regulation through crystal structures of the PDE4 regulatory domain in contact with small molecules.

29 Dec 2009

Publication validates company's structure-based approach for addressing undruggable targets

28 Dec 2009

MDRNA closes $1M bridge loan

MDRNA, Inc., a leading RNAi-based drug discovery and development company, today announced the closing of a bridge loan pursuant to a Note and Warrant Purchase Agreement. Under the terms of the loan, the Company sold promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $1.0 million and issued warrants to purchase an aggregate of approximately 1.1 million shares of the Company's common stock at $1.02 per share to certain accredited investors.

24 Dec 2009

New compound may halt drug-resistant lung cancer

The ability to make, test, and map the atomic structure of new anti-cancer agents has enabled a team of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists to discover a compound capable of halting a common type of drug-resistant lung cancer.

24 Dec 2009

Ligand Pharmaceuticals acquires Neurogen

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Neurogen Corporation, following approval of the transaction by Neurogen stockholders earlier today. As a result, Ligand gains a fully funded partnership with Merck & Co., additional pipeline assets, drug discovery resources and additional cash balances.

23 Dec 2009

Viron Therapeutics' three drug candidates granted U.S. patents

Viron Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering the development of virally-derived protein therapeutics, today announced that it has been granted U.S. patents related to three of its drug candidates, VT-111, VT-346 and VT-384.

23 Dec 2009

WuXi PharmaTech announces winners of third Life Science and Chemistry Awards

WuXi PharmaTech, a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device research and development outsourcing company with operations in China and the United States, today announced the winners of its third Life Science and Chemistry Awards, held on December 20, 2009, at the China World Hotel in Beijing.

23 Dec 2009

CombinatoRx and Neuromed Pharmaceuticals complete merger agreement

CombinatoRx, Incorporated and Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that they have merged. This merger brings together the product assets and financial resources of both organizations, including potential Exalgo™ milestone and royalty revenue, CombinatoRx’s portfolio of product candidates and unique drug discovery capabilities.

21 Dec 2009

CSC completes a Series B financing round

California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC), a leading stem cell company, announced that it has completed a Series B financing round with private investors. The financing will enable the company to support the advancement of its therapeutic products to human clinical trials, as well as the generation and distribution of its tools to aid in stem cell research and drug discovery.

21 Dec 2009

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals to pay Isis Pharmaceuticals $10M for license of OGX-011 to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it will receive a $10 million payment from OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as a result of OncoGenex' license of OGX-011 to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ( TEVA). OGX-011 is a second-generation antisense drug co-discovered by Isis and OncoGenex that has completed a successful Phase 2 program in patients with advanced prostate cancer and advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

21 Dec 2009

Ambit Biosciences and Astellas Pharma to jointly develop and commercialize FLT3 kinase inhibitors

Ambit Biosciences Corporation and Astellas Pharma Inc. today announced that they have entered into a worldwide agreement to jointly develop and commercialize FLT3 kinase inhibitors in oncology and non-oncology indications.

18 Dec 2009

Academics and drug companies must work together to win funds for scientific research, says research director

Academics and drug companies must forge more productive relationships in the face of pressure from politicians and funders for more applied biomedical research, a research director has warned.

16 Dec 2009

StemCells receives U.S. patent for propagation and/or derivation of embryonic stem cells

StemCells, Inc. announced today that it has received a Notice of Allowance and a Notice of Issuance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for two patents claiming technologies for the establishment and maintenance of cell pluripotency (the ability to become any cell in the body, which is the defining attribute of embryonic stem cells), including the reprogramming of cells to create pluripotent stem cells.

16 Dec 2009

Modulating PN aggregase pathway may offer hope for Alzheimer’s disease

Proteostasis Therapeutics announced today that modulating a key Proteostasis Network (PN) pathway may offer a novel approach to Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that was published in the journal Cell by its scientific founders Andrew Dillin, Ph.D., and Jeffery Kelly, Ph.D. The publication describes how regulation of an aggregase pathway reduced the neurodegenerative effects of beta amyloid aggregates that are a hallmark of the disease.

16 Dec 2009

Drug Discovery News and Research

Further Reading

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals receives payment from Roche to initiate pre-IND studies for RNAi therapeutics

Ensemble Discovery initiates strategic alliance with Pfizer

Findings open up significant possibilities for developing micro-screening devices for drug discovery

Biotime ships six ACTCellerate progenitor cell lines to Millipore

CBI signs definitive share purchase agreement to acquire GL Biochem

DMET genotyping platform screens for 1256 genetic variations in 170 genes

Emerald BioStructures engineers new allosteric small molecule modulators of the PDE4 enzyme

Publication validates company's structure-based approach for addressing undruggable targets

MDRNA closes $1M bridge loan

New compound may halt drug-resistant lung cancer

Ligand Pharmaceuticals acquires Neurogen

Viron Therapeutics' three drug candidates granted U.S. patents

WuXi PharmaTech announces winners of third Life Science and Chemistry Awards

CombinatoRx and Neuromed Pharmaceuticals complete merger agreement

CSC completes a Series B financing round

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals to pay Isis Pharmaceuticals $10M for license of OGX-011 to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

Ambit Biosciences and Astellas Pharma to jointly develop and commercialize FLT3 kinase inhibitors

Academics and drug companies must work together to win funds for scientific research, says research director

StemCells receives U.S. patent for propagation and/or derivation of embryonic stem cells

Modulating PN aggregase pathway may offer hope for Alzheimer’s disease

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