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.

CellCentric out-licenses development, commercialisation of novel epigenetic discovery programme to Takeda Pharmaceutical

From its broad portfolio of novel targets in epigenetics, CellCentric has out-licensed exclusively the development and commercialisation of an important programme focused on cancer.

24 Feb 2010

WuXi PharmaTech's Shanghai c-GMP manufacturing facility receives MPA compliance certificate

WuXi PharmaTech (WX), a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device research and development outsourcing company with operations in China and the United States, announced today that it received the formal certificate of GMP compliance from the Medical Products Agency (MPA) of Sweden, acting on behalf of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), for its c-GMP drug product manufacturing and analytical testing facilities located in Shanghai.

24 Feb 2010

Lilly, Merck, Pfizer collaborate to accelerate research on commonly-diagnosed cancer

Eli Lilly and Company, Merck (also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside the USA and Canada), and Pfizer Inc. today announced the formation of the Asian Cancer Research Group, Inc., an independent, not-for-profit company established to accelerate research and ultimately improve treatment for patients affected with the most commonly-diagnosed cancers in Asia.

23 Feb 2010

WuXi PharmaTech's Suzhou non-clinical safety testing facility receives AAALAC accreditation

WuXi PharmaTech, a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device research and development outsourcing company with operations in China and the United States, announced today that its Suzhou non-clinical safety testing facility received full accreditation from the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC). As a result of an extensive on-site evaluation, AAALAC determined that WuXi PharmaTech's facility meets the highest standards of animal care and research practices.

22 Feb 2010

Caliper Life Sciences forms SAB to develop additional solutions for next generation sequencing workflows

Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life sciences research, today announced the formation of a scientific advisory board to guide its efforts in automated sample preparation for next generation and third generation sequencing platforms. Caliper worked closely with leading genome centers to develop the LabChip® XT, which was announced today, and is now expanding its efforts to develop additional solutions for next generation sequencing workflows.

22 Feb 2010

$Caliper Life Sciences introduces automated nucleic acid fractionation instrument, LabChip XT$

Caliper Life Sciences introduces automated nucleic acid fractionation instrument, LabChip XT

Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life sciences research, today introduced the LabChip XT, an automated nucleic acid fractionation instrument.

19 Feb 2010

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals co-founder discovers new ribosomal structures of antibiotics

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development-stage antibiotics company with a broad product pipeline based on its innovative discovery platform, and Yale University today announced the discovery by Thomas Steitz, Ph.D., co-founder of Rib-X and Yale University professor, of important new ribosomal structures of antibiotics, enabling the potential creation of novel treatments for drug resistant infections, including resistant tuberculosis (TB).

19 Feb 2010

PsychoGenics announces alliance with experimental neuropharmacology expert for specialized microdialysis services

PsychoGenics Inc. today announced the establishment of an exclusive alliance with Dr. Jan Kehr, an internationally recognized expert in experimental neuropharmacology, to provide specialized microdialysis services to complement PsychoGenics’ in vivo testing capabilities.

19 Feb 2010

UCSF, Genentech partner to discover and develop drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases

The University of California, San Francisco has signed a partnership agreement with Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, to discover and develop drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases.

19 Feb 2010

The Hamner Institutes signs formal Memorandum of Understanding with Oslo Cancer Cluster

The Hamner Institutes at Research Triangle Park has signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Oslo Cancer Cluster in Oslo, Norway, one of the leading cancer clusters in Europe. The goal of the collaboration is to strengthen The Hamner's Global BioScience Gateway for Translational Research and Business Development, which began with partnerships in China.

19 Feb 2010

Unusual compounds in pitcher plant could prove effective against human fungal infections

The moment insects like flies, ants and beetles fall into a pitcher, the plant's enzymes are activated and begin dissolving their new meal, obtaining nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen which are difficult to extract from certain soils.

19 Feb 2010

Pacific Biosciences introduces partner program for SMRT DNA sequencing system

Pacific Biosciences, a private company developing a disruptive technology platform for real-time detection of biological events at single molecule resolution, today announced the launch of a partner program designed to work with best-in-class organizations providing complementary solutions to its Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT™) DNA sequencing system. The program will help customers rapidly and easily adopt its third-generation DNA sequencing solution into their discovery programs.

17 Feb 2010

CalciMedica granted U.S. composition patent concerning key component of CRAC channel

CalciMedica today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued to CalciMedica US Patent No. 7,645,588, a composition patent involving STIM1, a key component of the calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel. The patent, entitled "Composition comprising a cell comprising a STIM1 protein and an agent that modulates intracellular calcium and methods of use," has a priority date of March 4, 2003 and was issued on January 12, 2010.

17 Feb 2010

AB SCIEX acquires liquid chromatography business of Eksigent Technologies

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced that it has acquired the liquid chromatography business of Eksigent Technologies. This acquisition significantly strengthens AB SCIEX’s position in liquid chromatography, which is a key technology used frequently in a broad range of life science applications such as protein biomarker research, drug discovery and basic research.

16 Feb 2010

EMBL-EBI hosts ChEMBLdb online database

ChEMBLdb, an online database of information on the properties of more than half a million drug and drug-like small molecules and their targets, has been launched.

12 Feb 2010

IBM, VLSCI scientists to use Blue Gene supercomputer to study human disease

IBM today announced a Research collaboratory in Melbourne, Australia, where scientists from the Victorian Life Sciences Computational Initiative at the University of Melbourne and the IBM Research Computational Biology Center will use high performance computing – including IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer – to study human disease.

12 Feb 2010

Therapeutic cell types obtained from iPS cells demonstrate abnormal expansion and early cellular aging

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. or “ACT” reported that a range of therapeutic cell types obtained from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells exhibit abnormal expansion and early cellular aging. The research, which appears online (published-ahead-of- print) in the journal STEM CELLS by ACT and its collaborators at Stem International (SCRMI), Harvard Medical School, and the University of Illinois, compares a variety of replacement cell types derived from human iPS cells with their embryonic stem (ES) cell counterparts. The findings support the use of ACT’s single blastomere-derived human embryonic stem cell lines which do not display early aging.

12 Feb 2010

3SBio, Ascentage Pharma announce cancer therapeutics collaboration

3SBio Inc., a leading China-based biotechnology company focused on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing biopharmaceutical products, and Ascentage Pharma Group Corporation, Ltd. ("Ascentage Pharma") announced today that they have formed a strategic alliance to research, develop and commercialize best-in-class targeted cancer therapeutics focusing on programmed cell death, or apoptosis. The alliance will leverage Ascentage Pharma's expertise in structure-based small molecule design, lead optimization and preclinical development with 3SBio's proven drug development and commercialization capabilities in China.

12 Feb 2010

4SC AG announces the first treatment in Phase I clinical study of 4SC-205

4SC AG a drug discovery and development company focused on autoimmune and cancer indications, today announced the first treatment in a Phase I study evaluating 4SC-205, an oral Eg5 kinesin spindle protein inhibitor, in patients with solid tumours or malignant lymphomas.

11 Feb 2010

Therapeutic cell types obtained from iPS cells exhibit abnormal expansion and early cellular aging

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. reported that a range of therapeutic cell types obtained from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells exhibit abnormal expansion and early cellular aging.

11 Feb 2010

Drug Discovery News and Research

Further Reading

CellCentric out-licenses development, commercialisation of novel epigenetic discovery programme to Takeda Pharmaceutical

WuXi PharmaTech's Shanghai c-GMP manufacturing facility receives MPA compliance certificate

Lilly, Merck, Pfizer collaborate to accelerate research on commonly-diagnosed cancer

WuXi PharmaTech's Suzhou non-clinical safety testing facility receives AAALAC accreditation

Caliper Life Sciences forms SAB to develop additional solutions for next generation sequencing workflows

Caliper Life Sciences introduces automated nucleic acid fractionation instrument, LabChip XT

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals co-founder discovers new ribosomal structures of antibiotics

PsychoGenics announces alliance with experimental neuropharmacology expert for specialized microdialysis services

UCSF, Genentech partner to discover and develop drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases

The Hamner Institutes signs formal Memorandum of Understanding with Oslo Cancer Cluster

Unusual compounds in pitcher plant could prove effective against human fungal infections

Pacific Biosciences introduces partner program for SMRT DNA sequencing system

CalciMedica granted U.S. composition patent concerning key component of CRAC channel

AB SCIEX acquires liquid chromatography business of Eksigent Technologies

EMBL-EBI hosts ChEMBLdb online database

IBM, VLSCI scientists to use Blue Gene supercomputer to study human disease

Therapeutic cell types obtained from iPS cells demonstrate abnormal expansion and early cellular aging

3SBio, Ascentage Pharma announce cancer therapeutics collaboration

4SC AG announces the first treatment in Phase I clinical study of 4SC-205

Therapeutic cell types obtained from iPS cells exhibit abnormal expansion and early cellular aging

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