SAN RAMON, Calif., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ — Odyssey Thera, Inc. announced today the signing of an agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance the goals of the Molecular Libraries Roadmap Initiative. Under the agreement, Odyssey Thera will provide the NIH Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC) with access to proprietary human cell lines with state-of-the-art technology for screening biochemical pathways in living cells. The technology, known as PCA (protein-fragment complementation assays), provides fluorescence sensors of bio-molecular interactions inside human cells. Since these interactions comprise the pathways that regulate human health and disease processes, the assays enable screening for small molecules with direct relevance for pharmaceutical discovery. The NCGC will use high-tech systems to screen its repository of over 100,000 chemically diverse small molecules against these pathways.

“Odyssey’s technology provides a completely novel strategy for probing targets and pathways inside human cells,” said Jim Inglese, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the NCGC. “This strategy complements the advances made by the NIH Chemical Genomics Center, and could result in the identification of novel probes and new therapeutic strategies.”

“This agreement reflects our commitment to dramatically accelerate and improve the process of drug discovery,” said Marnie L. MacDonald, Ph.D., President and CEO of Odyssey Thera. “The NCGC is leading the way in chemical biology approaches that will facilitate the discovery of new and better targets and drugs.”

About the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and the NIH Chemical Genomics Center

The NIH Roadmap is a series of new initiatives designed to pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single NIH institute could tackle alone but which the agency as a whole can address to make the biggest impact possible on the progress of medical research and to catalyze changes that will serve to transform new scientific knowledge into tangible benefits for public health. Additional information about the NIH Roadmap can be found at its website www.nihroadmap.nih.gov. The NIH Chemical Genomics Center is a component of the NIH Roadmap; additional information can be found at www.ncgc.nih.gov.

About Odyssey Thera

Odyssey Thera, Inc. probes the bio-molecular interactions of human cells to identify compounds that block disease pathways and do not have undesirable off-target activities. Odyssey Thera has applied this strategy to high-throughput lead optimization for its pharmaceutical partners, thereby accelerating the attrition of compounds with unintended and undesirable activities. The company has established its own preclinical pipeline of novel drug candidates for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Additional information can be found at www.odysseythera.com.

Source: Odyssey Thera, Inc.