Bio Screening Industry News

Bio-Synthesis Inc. was contracted by Georgia Cosmetics, Houston, Texas to produce a series of peptides derived from colostrum.  Georgia Cosmetics have filed for patents encompassing said peptides.  Colostrum is the early mother’s milk thought to be important in providing the newborn with the elements necessary to establish the immune system of the child.  Dr. Jersey Georgiadis, a world renowned protein expert and CEO of Georgia Cosmetics, is also marketing tablets containing related peptides and other proprietary formulation that also stimulates an adult’s immune system.

About Bio-Synthesis

Bio-Synthesis Inc, headquartered in Lewisville, Texas is a leading biomedical manufacturer of custom peptide synthesis, polyclonal antibodies, bioconjugates, DNA oligomer, HLA/DNA typing, organic synthesis and a diverse number of bimolecular products for the biomedical/life science community worldwide.  BSI’s staff of highly experienced and qualified chemists, biologists and immunologists has reliably and consistently provided products and services to large pharmaceuticals and universities across the country that meet the most demanding requirements for quality, turnaround and expert technical support.  

Bio-Synthesis Inc was the first commercial company providing DNA and peptides in 1984 and have assisted biomedical researchers (and published articles) in the design of complex bimolecular, of >600,000 peptides used in a variety of fields including but not limited to cancer, apoptosis, signal transduction, cell cycle regulation, genomic sequencing, microarrays, epitope mapping, and HLA typing.  BSI specializes in custom peptide synthesis from small to large scale and can help design the optimal peptides for your research needs at the most competitive price and the highest quality. BSI has the capabilities to synthesize over 500 peptides simultaneously with over 23 years of experienced manufacturing. Furthermore, Bio-Synthesis Inc. is accredited by the AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) to conduct human genetic analysis.  Bio-Synthesis continues to be the worldwide leader for quality custom synthesis. 

For more information, please call 1-800-227-0627.

Heidelberg, Germany, November 29, 2007 /b3c newswire/ — Graffinity Pharmaceuticals GmbH announced today that it has entered into its second drug discovery collaboration with Pfizer, Inc. Through the collaboration, Graffinity will provide Pfizer with access to its proprietary, fragment-based screening technology for use in screening Pfizer drug targets. The agreement is Graffinity’s sixth discovery collaboration since it was established as an independent company in 2006.

Kristina Schmidt, CEO of Graffinity, stated, ”Graffinity was established almost two years ago as an independent company to commercialize its proprietary fragment-based discovery technology. To have entered into six collaborations in such a short period of time highlights the outstanding progress we have made, underscores the potential both of our technology and business model, and positions us as a leader in this growing area of drug discovery.”

About Graffinity Pharmaceuticals GmbH - www.graffinity.com

Heidelberg, Germany based Graffinity Pharmaceuticals is a leader in the field of small molecule fragment based drug discovery. The company pursues high-profile drug discovery collaborations with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. Graffinity employs a flexible business model which allows it to tailor programs to the specific needs of each partner and offers numerous benefits to its customers on a straightforward fee-for-service basis. Graffinity’s fragment screening platform combines chemical microarrays with a proprietary method for the standardized, label-free detection of compound-protein interactions via SPR imaging. The company’s rapid and scalable drug discovery technology explores a rich chemical universe to identify drug fragments which address challenging drug targets. With its 110,000-compound library that contains 23,000 true fragments, Graffinity possesses one of the most diverse fragment libraries. Graffinity has established collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners including Amgen, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Genentech, Pfizer and Merck-Serono.

Graffinity’s unique fragment based discovery platform has been invented in 1998, and has been in routine industrial use since 2002 in screening more than 60 drug targets.

Aarhus, Denmark — November 29th, 2007 — CLC bio, the world’s leading bioinformatics solution provider, today announced the release of CLC Bioinformatics Database. This powerful and versatile database solution enables research organizations, from small university departments and clinical labs to large biotech and pharmaceutical companies, to maximize their potential, through increased productivity. An increase in productivity will help increase the number of drug candidates, by empowering scientists to do more with their research. In turn this gives companies a more efficient use of R&D budgets.

Dr. Darrol Baker, Sales Manager at CLC bio states,
CLC Bioinformatics Database raises the bar for what can be expected from a database solution! Our development team has focused on eliminating classic obstacles such as different operating systems, limited support for database formats, or limited access to a central storage facility. The security and management facilities in CLC bio’s Bioinformatics Database can potentially help organizations stop misuse or loss of data, as well as help protect their intellectual property rights.

For organizations already having an existing relational database in use for sharing DNA, RNA, and protein sequence data, the CLC Bioinformatics Database interface can be customized to store and retrieve data directly from that database. The result is a solution that enables all users of CLC bio’s software to work directly on - and fully integrated with - the organization’s existing database. This ensures the same data sharing, data searching and data security characteristics as if the database had been a stand alone database - except for the fact that the CLC bio data is now fully integrated with all other sequence data in the organization. The design, API-customization, implementation, and data migration can be carried out by the customer or by CLC bio’s consultants.

As with all other of CLC bio’s solutions, CLC Bioinformatics Database is cross-platform, running on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. Additionally, this solution will enable users across various workgroups to work on data in a central, shared, and secure relational database. CLC Bioinformatics Database integrates and runs smoothly with several types of databases, including Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

For more information on CLC Bioinformatics Database, go to:
www.clcbio.com/database

About CLC bio

CLC bio is the world’s leading full-service bioinformatics solution provider, solely focusing on the development of bioinformatics: software, hardware, data analysis, and custom-designed bioinformatics algorithms. CLC bio is an Apple solution provider and value added reseller.

CLC bio’s mission is to be among the most innovative bioinformatics companies in the 21st century. This is realized through:

• Development of bioinformatics software and hardware based on the latest scientific findings
• User-friendly, integrated and intuitive cross-platform software solutions
• Continuous focus on customer needs and superior customer service
• Frequent product updates including the latest IT technologies and bioinformatics algorithms
• A flexible IT architecture, enabling customers to buy or develop individualized solutions at a reasonable price

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) — Znomics, Inc., a pioneer in the development of the zebrafish as a simple vertebrate genetic platform to accelerate drug discovery, announced the successful closing on November 5, 2007 of a $4.88 million private offering. Simultaneously with the close of the private offering, the company effected a merger with Pacific Syndicated Resources, Inc. (OTCBB:PSRI) and renamed the combined company as Znomics, Inc. under the leadership of the former Znomics’ directors and officers. Griffin Securities, Inc. acted as placement agent in connection with the private placement. The company’s common stock is currently trading under the PSRI ticker on the over-the-counter market, however, the company has applied to Nasdaq for a new ticker reflective of the Znomics name for which it expects to receive approval in the near future.

“We are extremely pleased with the completion of these two important transactions and the strong support demonstrated by investors during the process,” commented Richard Sessions, chief executive officer of Znomics.

Dr. Roger Cone, president and chief scientific officer of Znomics, stated, “This financing will allow the company to launch its drug discovery programs, as well as expand sales of our existing zebrafish research products from the ZeneMark Library(r). First year sales of ZeneMark Library products to leading academic researchers around the world exceeded our expectations, and we plan to expand this line by introducing additional products and services over the next year. Our highest priority will be the whole animal compound screening that we expect to improve the speed and efficiency of finding new lead compounds for complex human diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and neurodegeneration.”

About Znomics

Znomics is a biotechnology company that is developing a novel drug discovery methodology based on high throughput drug screening against human disease models in live zebrafish (Danio rerio). In order to advance the drug discovery process, Znomics has created a catalogued library of mutations in the zebrafish, called the ZeneMark Library. The library currently contains over 11,000 strains of fish representing approximately half of the known genes, and the company plans to add enough strains to represent 80-90% of the genes in the genome. Znomics has already identified mutations in 107 human disease genes, and plans to use the library to find new drug targets and develop human disease models in the fish. The company, founded by scientists from Oregon Health and Science University, began operations in Portland, Oregon in 2002.

Forward-Looking Statements

With the exception of historical information contained in this press release, the matters described herein are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, including statements as to industry trends, future economic performance, anticipated profitability, anticipated revenues or expenses, and products or service line growth, may be significantly and materially impacted by certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, failure to meet operating objectives or to execute the operating plan, competition, and other economic factors, risks regarding product development, the timing and results of clinical trials, the regulatory approval process, capital requirements, financial condition, patent protection and dependence on third parties for development and licensing arrangements. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in the Company’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available online at www.sec.gov. Znomics undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For more information visit our website, http://www.znomics.com

WOBURN, Massachusetts, November 26 /PRNewswire/ — Mercury Therapeutics, Inc. (MTI) has developed a novel lead generation platform to identify small molecule activators of protein kinases involved in the regulation of energy metabolism. The technology employed is in an interrelated series of in-vitro and cell-based protein kinase and cell metabolism assays that allow for the rapid filtering of the numerous hits that are routinely identified in most types of high throughput screening campaigns, particularly those seeking to develop activators of protein kinases. MTI’s specific implementation of this technology is to identify and develop small molecule activators of AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK) to treat type-2 diabetes (”T2DM”) and metabolic syndrome utilizes both proprietary technology and in-house improvements in assay development for activators of protein kinases with structures that include multiple subunits like, AMPK.

T2DM is of epidemic proportions in the western hemisphere, having doubled in incidence in the past two decades. According to an article in the New York Times on May 16, 2006, diabetes is the only disease in the U.S. with a death rate that is still rising, accounting for over 225,000 deaths per year. It is estimated that there are at least 20 million diabetics in the USA, with a third still undiagnosed. In addition to the direct morbidity and mortality due to diabetes, elevated fasting blood glucose levels, even levels below the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis, have been associated with a significantly increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The American Diabetes Association has estimated that $92 billion was spent in 2002 on diabetes care. Of that, $20 billion was for the diabetes drug market, accounting for over 12% of total pharmaceutical sales.

Through its proprietary screening platform, MTI has identified multiple small molecule chemotypes that potently activate AMPK directly in vitro as well as in cultured cells. MTI is in the process of applying for patent protection on these novel core structures and simultaneously initiating preclinical studies on these lead series. MTI has also identified a number of small molecules that stimulate AMPK activity indirectly in a variety of mouse, rat and human cell lines. Of these cellular actives, MTI has been able to demonstrate that this activity in cell culture corresponds to an effect in-vivo, inducing the accelerated clearance of elevated blood glucose levels in mouse models. These assays were performed in two ways. In the first model, normal lean mice were challenged with a large dose of glucose and were treated 20 minutes later with an AMPK activator. Mice that were treated with a known AMPK activator or with the MTI compounds showed an accelerated rate of clearance of blood glucose levels within 30 to 90 minutes of treatment, compared to mice who only received glucose.

AMPK plays a key role in maintaining cellular and whole body energy balance. It is found in all cells and tissues, but most importantly in skeletal muscle, liver, and adipose tissue. AMPK activation shifts both intracellular and whole body metabolism away from cholesterol, fatty acid and triglyceride synthesis (fat storage) and toward β-oxidation (fat breakdown, energy production). Because exercise has similar metabolic effects in skeletal muscle to AMPK activation, AMPK has lightly been referred to as “exercise in a bottle” or the “jogging pill.” There are several isoforms of each of the 3 subunits that comprise the AMPK protein, with AMPKα2 being thought of as the most appropriate target in skeletal muscle, while AMPKα1 is the predominant isoform in liver, which is thought to be activated indirectly by a number of anti-diabetic drugs. AMPK activity is also upregulated by hormones secreted from the GI tract and from adipose tissue, including ghrelin, leptin, and adiponectin, and is inhibited by increases in amino acids, glucose, or insulin.

In T2DM, a build-up of lipid within skeletal muscle suppresses the muscle cell’s ability to take in glucose from the blood when stimulated to do so by insulin (termed insulin resistance), resulting in elevated blood glucose levels. The spillover of glucose is taken up by the liver for triglyceride synthesis, thereby contributing to the higher plasma triglycerides and lower HDL levels associated with insulin resistance. In addition the higher blood glucose levels evoke pancreatic beta cell insulin secretion that sustained over time contributes to the development of beta cell failure. A direct small molecule activator of AMPK that works independently of insulin levels has been shown in published reports to reduce insulin resistance in skeletal muscles of rat and mice models of T2DM, along with reductions in blood glucose, serum triglycerides (TGs), and intramuscular fat stores, suggesting that activators of AMPK may be useful in the treatment of T2DM.

In a second animal assay, mice were maintained on a high fat diet for 20 weeks, causing accelerated weight gain, insulin resistance and elevated blood glucose levels. When these DIO (diet induced obesity) mice were treated with AMPK activators, the blood glucose levels dropped to normal levels and were maintained at that level for at least several hours. Two cell-based actives have tested positive thus far in whole animal studies and have been entered in PK and toxicology studies for further consideration for nomination as clinical candidates. One of these cell based actives is the subject of ongoing negotiations for a license and collaboration agreement with a local biotech company.

Dr. Joseph Avruch, Chairman of the MTI Scientific Advisory Board and a co-founder of MTI, says: “MTI’s focus on developing a direct orally available AMPK activator to treat T2DM and insulin resistance represents a novel and important new approach that could substantially improve the effective management of blood glucose levels without the need for insulin injections, with an added crucial benefit of improving blood lipid profiles. In T2DM, hyperglycemia combines with an array of lipid abnormalities to create a markedly increased risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Activation of AMPK in muscle and liver is likely to address these multiple abnormalities in a strongly favorable way. We desperately need drugs that will reduce the risk for vascular disease in patients with T2DM, and I am therefore very encouraged by MTI’s progress to date in identifying potent, specific AMPK activators.”

About Mercury Therapeutics, Inc.

MTI was founded in 2001. MTI currently has an exclusive license to a patent from Dartmouth and St. Vincent’s in Melbourne, Australia claiming one isoform of each of the 3 AMPK subunits. In June 2001 MTI launched its R&D operations following execution of a license and collaboration agreement with Aventis, SA to develop an AMPK activator to treat type 2 diabetes. In June, 2004, Aventis was acquired by Sanofi, and the AMPK collaboration with MTI was terminated. In October, 2004: MTI secured external financing from XL TechGroup, Inc. as part of an R&D agreement. In Q4 2005, MTI demonstrated in-vivo proof-of-principle of active compounds in a glucose tolerance test in mice and, in Q1 2006, MTI established multiple academic collaborations and launched its lead optimization program against two NCE’s.

MTI is an early stage drug discovery company focusing on the development of small molecules against a well validated, though largely unexploited, protein kinase drug target in metabolic disease and oncology. MTI’s lead development program is in metabolic disease, specifically focused on a small molecule activator of AMPK for the treatment of T2DM. Additional potential indications also include obesity, hyperlipidemia, and the metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Neal C. Birnberg, Ph.D. -Dr. Birnberg is the President & CEO and a co-founder of Mercury Therapeutics. Prior to starting MTI, Dr. Birnberg was the Scientific Director of Creagen, Inc. and Cystar, Inc. Before he entered the private sector, Dr. Birnberg was a professor on the faculty at Yale Medical School where he conducted NIH supported research and taught medical and graduate students.

Dr. Joseph Avruch, Ph.D. - Dr. Avruch is the Chairman of the Mercury Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board and a co-founder. Dr. Avruch is a practicing endocrinologist and is the Chief of the Diabetes Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Avruch is also an internationally known investigator in the mechanisms of signaling by insulin, growth factors and the role of protein kinases in cell growth and differentiation. Dr. Avruch recently received the prestigious 2006 Bristol Meyers Squibb Distinguished Investigator Award in Metabolic Disease.

Dr. Bruce Kemp, Ph.D. - Dr. Kemp is one of the world’s leading structural biologists in the area of protein kinase signaling. As a principle investigator and co-inventor on the patent claiming the gene sequences for AMP kinase patent licensed by MTI, Dr. Kemp is a member of the Mercury Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board and directs a laboratory at St. Vincent’s Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia whose main focus is the determination of the 3-dimensional structure of AMP activated protein kinase.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2007) — A team of scientists led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator Linda B. Buck has found that a drug used to treat depression can extend the lifespan of adult roundworms.

Buck and colleagues Michael Petrascheck and Xiaolan Ye report in the November 22, 2007, issue of the journal Nature, that the antidepressant drug mianserin can extend the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans by about 30 percent.

Intriguingly, the drug may act by mimicking the effects of caloric restriction, which has been shown to retard the effects of aging in a variety of animals ranging from worms and flies to mammals.

“Our studies indicate that lifespan extension by mianserin involves mechanisms associated with lifespan extension by dietary restriction,” said Buck, a member of the Basic Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “We don’t have an explanation for this. All we can say is that if we give the drug to caloric restricted animals, it doesn’t increase their lifespan any further. That suggests the same mechanism may be involved.”

Researchers don’t yet understand exactly how mianserin staves off the effects of aging. But the drug appears to act the same way in both C. elegans and humans: by blocking certain receptors for the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical that cells use to communicate, helping them regulate many functions, including mood, appetite, and sensory perception.

Buck said it was a surprise to find that a drug used to treat depression in humans could extend lifespan in worms. The researchers in Buck’s lab found that in addition to inhibiting certain serotonin receptors in the worm, it also blocked receptors for another neurotransmitter, octopamine.

A number of observations support the idea that serotonin and octopamine may complement one another in a physiological context, Buck explained, with serotonin signaling the presence of food and octopamine signaling its absence or a state of starvation. C. elegans, for instance, usually only lays eggs when food is on hand. But serotonin stimulates egg laying in the absence of food, while octopamine inhibits egg laying even when food is nearby. Another example of interplay between the two chemicals is that pharyngeal pumping, the mechanism by which worms ingest food, is jump-started by serotonin and thwarted by octopamine.

“In our studies, mianserin had a much greater inhibitory effect on the serotonin receptor than the octopamine receptor,” she said. “One possibility is that there is a dynamic equilibrium between serotonin and octopamine signaling and the drug tips the balance in the direction of octopamine signaling, producing a perceived, though not real, state of starvation that activates aging mechanisms downstream of dietary restriction.”

Buck and her colleagues chose to focus on the effects of mianserin based on the results of a search through 88,000 chemicals for agents that extended the lifespan of nematodes. They found 115 such chemicals. In follow-up studies of one chemical, they found four additional compounds, including mianserin, that extended lifespan by 20-33 percent. All four compounds inhibit certain types of serotonin receptors in humans.

“We screened a wide variety of chemicals without knowing anything about them except that they were small molecules,” Buck noted. “By screening adult animals with this extremely varied panel of compounds, we hoped to identify drugs that could increase lifespan in adults, even though some might have a deleterious effect on the developing animal.”

By identifying drugs that influence lifespan, Buck added, it may be possible to home in on how those drugs act and contribute to a growing body of knowledge about the genetic mechanisms of aging.

“Other researchers have done beautiful work using molecular genetic approaches to identify genes involved in aging,” she said. “We decided to take a chemical approach. By finding chemicals that enhance longevity, and then finding the targets of those chemicals, it may be possible to identify additional genes important in aging. In addition, the chemical approach could point to drugs suitable for testing in mammals.”

Buck said that her group has yet to identify what kinds of cells are affected by the drug, because while the serotonin receptors involved are only found on neurons, many types of cells — not just cells of the nervous system — have receptors for octopamine.

A new device invented by researchers at the University of Virginia could save pharmaceutical companies significant time and money in screening potential new drug compounds.

“We want to help the pharmaceutical industry identify effective therapuetic compounds by allowing them to fail early, fail fast, and fail cheap before going to very expensive animal studies,” said Brett Blackman, an assistant professor in biomedical engineering.

Blackman and Brian Wamhoff, assistant professor in the department of medicine (cardiovascular division), have teamed up to create the novel system, HemoShear 2.0, which offers researchers for the first time the ability to observe the behavior patterns of human vascular cells under a variety of blood flow conditions that occur inside the body’s cardiovascular system.

HemoShear 2.0 models the early indicators of atherosclerosis — hardening or narrowing of the arteries — by placing actual human vascular cells (i.e., endothelial and smooth muscle cells) in an environment that mimics an artery with blood flowing through it. Data from the exposure can be measured and recorded.

HemoShear 2.0 can help test the efficacy of therapeutic compounds and aid in early stage toxicity studies. Instead of testing drug compounds on isolated cells, which can produce false negatives, drug companies can use the device to test compounds in a more realistic environment.

“What the pharmaceutical industry lacks is the ability to mimic an organ ex vivo,” Wamhoff said. “We know that as soon as we take an organ and disperse the cells, those cells are no longer like they were in the body. If you apply a novel compound to that cell, the response you get might be real but it’s not meaningful in the context of the disease. When you go to animal studies, that response may not carry over in the blood vessel. It is clear that human-based biomimetic models are needed to fill this gap”

Atherosclerosis is considered the most important underlying cause of heart attack or stroke. The disease tends to occur at locations in the arteries where blood flow is compromised, causing detrimental changes in both the cells lining the interior of blood vessels (endothelial cells) and the cells found in the wall of blood vessels (smooth muscle cells).

Using an MRI, the researchers determined the rhythmic pattern at which blood flows through different arteries in human subjects. “We are then able to simulate the same flow patterns in those areas that are more or less susceptible to atherosclerosis and observe how the cells respond to these flow patterns in HemoShear,” Blackman said.

According to Wamhoff, this kind of modeling offers unique opportunities to observe the cells and their interaction. “Research has been conducted wherein human cells are isolated to observe behavior patterns, but there are no available models that allow one to accurately study the intricate communication between endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells in a setting that mimics actual blood flow in the body.”

This communication is important, the researchers say, because the cells lining the interior of the blood vessels, the endothelial cells, recognize different blood flow patterns imposed upon them and respond by expressing or repressing genes. This, in turn, influences their interactions with the cells found in the walls of blood vessels, the smooth muscle cells — interactions that, the researchers found, may lead to the onset of early-inflammation-associated atherosclerosis in certain arteries.

Using HemoShear 2.0, the researchers have been able to recreate blood flow patterns in bifurcating and bulbous areas like the internal carotid that are more susceptible to the disease (atheroprone areas) and the pipe-like arteries like the common carotid that are less susceptible to the disease (atheroprotective areas).

Using a synthetic elastic layer that is similar to a real blood vessel wall, endothelial cells are plated on the top surface and smooth muscle cells on the bottom surface. Then, the different blood flow patterns modeled from human circulation are applied to the endothelial cells through rotation of a motor-driven cone system. The findings: the blood flow can influence both endothelial and smooth muscle cell behaviors.

When subjected to atheroprotective blood flow patterns, the endothelial cells aligned with the direction of the blood flow, and the smooth muscle cells aligned perpendicularly to the flow as is true in a healthy blood vessel. In stark contrast, the atheroprone type of flow caused the endothelial cells to move away from their parallel structure while smooth muscle cells moved away from their perpendicular structure. This remodeling mimics the early phases of the diseased state of the artery; the blood flow pattern associated with atheroprone areas resulted in inflammation in both cells reminiscent of early hallmarks of atherosclerosis. This was confirmed through evaluating gene and protein expression profiles in both cell types.

“The results of this study validate the use of this novel co-culture system as a relevant biomimetic vascular model for studying early atherosclerotic events,” said Tom Skalak, professor and chair of the U.Va. Department of Biomedical Engineering. “The cells’ responses to these carefully controlled models of blood flow can now be used to develop therapeutic interventions for detection and treatment of vascular diseases — it has the potential to be revolutionary.”

Blackman,Wamhoff, and Dr. Norbert Leitinger (department of pharmacology) have formed a collaborative entity — the Laboratory of Atherogenesis — to begin using the HemoShear system to make these translatable discoveries in atherosclerosis.

A provisional patent has been filed for HemoShear 2.0. The research that HemoShear 2.0 made possible was spearheaded by a biomedical engineering graduate student, Nicole Hastings (’08), and is published in the American Journal of Physiology — Cell Physiology.

Scientists in Indiana and Michigan have developed a better way of mining a vast computerized database for chemical nuggets that could become tomorrow’s cancer medications.

The new “data mining” method pinpoints chemical structures with drug-like activity. It could speed the identification and development of new, more effective drugs against breast, prostate, lung and other cancers.

Computers have become a mainstay in the drug discovery process and have led to the identification of dozens of promising anticancer drugs. However, as the amount and complexity of information increases, new analysis methods need to keep pace.

In the new report, David J. Wild and colleagues analyzed data from the National Cancer Institute Developmental Therapeutics Program, a database of 40,000 compounds that have been tested against 60 tumor cell lines. The researchers identified a set of common structural features that can be used to more accurately predict which compounds are most active against cancer cells.

In a series of experiments, they showed that applying these new criteria significantly increased the accuracy rate of identifying drug-like molecules in comparison to standard screening methods.

The journal article”Chemical Data Mining of the NCI Human Tumor Cell Line Database” is scheduled for publication in the Nov./Dec. issue of ACS’ Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.

The conference included 19 interactive workshops, panel discussions, international seminars and company presentations. The Opening Plenary focused on the anticipated convergence between biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. Panelists discussed the opportunity for biologics to enable pharmaceutical companies to achieve greater market share, as well as overlaps and convergence between biotech and Big Pharma.

“This year’s BIO-Europe was the largest held to date with over 2200 delegates.  This highly successful event brought together biotech and pharmaceutical industry leaders from around the globe to develop partnerships, share insights on business trends, and discuss policy issues and other factors that impact the biotech industry,” said Jim Greenwood, President and Chief Executive Officer of BIO.

Attendees came from around the world to participate in over 8500 partnering meetings geared toward exploring mutually beneficial deals. A Plenary Session entitled, “A Day in the Life of Experienced Dealmakers,” [http://www.ebdgroup.com/bioeurope/] featured leading dealmakers highlighting recent case studies and discussing the externalization of research and development, trends within mergers and acquisitions and licensing opportunities.

BIO-Europe 2007 has exceeded expectations with over 2,200 delegates. The priority for all conference delegates is sitting down with potential partners to discuss projects for licensing, molecules, financing and other collaborative programs. “This is the key to the success we are seeing today,” said Carola Schropp, Managing Partner, EBD Group. “The success of BIO-Europe sets the stage for an exciting and productive BIO-Europe Spring® partnering conference in Madrid, Spain, April 7-9, 2008”.

About EBD Group

EBD Group International, LLC is the leading partnering firm for the global biotechnology industry. Since 1993, firms in the life sciences have leveraged EBD Group’s partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships that drive their business. EBD Group’s conferences (run in collaboration with leading industry partners and international trade associations such as the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) include BIO-Europe (co-organized with BIO), the preeminent stand-alone or ex-U.S. partnering conference for the biotechnology industry; BIO-Europe Spring; the investor conference, BioEquity Europe (co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO); and the convergent medical technology partnering conference, BioDevice Partnering. EBD’s novel, web-based, partnering software system is also used at numerous third-party events around the world. Outside of the conference format, EBD Group’s consultants can provide hands-on assistance for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies. EBD Group has offices in San Diego, Munich and London. For more information visit www.ebdgroup.com.

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and 31 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the annual BIO International Convention, the global event for biotechnology. www.bio.org.

Tampa, FL – Magellan BioScience Group, Inc. (Magellan), a pioneer in innovative drug discovery and development from marine microbial sources, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) announced today that they have entered into an anti-leukemia drug discovery collaboration. Magellan will team with UMDNJ scientist Dr. Scott Kachlany.
This collaboration will bring together Magellan’s unique collection of marine-derived microorganisms and their natural product chemistry expertise with Dr. Kachlany’s anti-leukemia screening technologies. Dr. Kachlany’s research group has developed a bioluminescent leukemia cell line that can be detected in whole blood and live animals. The Magellan-UMDNJ team will characterize lead candidates from Magellan’s collection by using bioassays and will optimize novel chemicals into preclinical drug candidates. Magellan’s expertise in various chemistry technologies will stimulate and accelerate early discovery efforts. Dr. Kachlany noted, “The fact that there have been little or no improvements in the survival rates for several forms of leukemia over the past 30 years underscores the need to identify and study novel anti-leukemia therapeutics.”
“We are excited to initiate this drug discovery collaboration with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey that will further validate our capabilities as a provider of novel small molecules and develop Magellan into a preferred First Class Discovery Company,” said Dr. Todd R. Daviau, CEO of Magellan. “UMDNJ’s scientific and technological approach powered by their highly qualified and organized research team constitutes a significant opportunity for the discovery and development of new anti-leukemia candidates.”

About UMDNJ:
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state’s three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.

About Magellan:
Magellan BioScience Group, Inc., based in Tampa, Fla., is a privately held innovative biotechnology company focused on the discovery of novel classes of therapeutic candidates. Magellan is using its integrated platform technologies to isolate and identify new biologically active compounds. The company believes that its library of marine microbes will be the next source of drug discovery for the pharmaceutical industry. Magellan aims to develop and optimize drug candidates to treat cancer, infectious diseases, and inflammation. For additional information, please refer to the company’s web site at www.magellanbioscience.com.