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KINAXO’s Cellular Target Profiling® reveals mTOR as a new target of Celebrex

Last Updated on Sunday, 10 May 2009 08:46 Written by admin Sunday, 10 May 2009 08:46

Martinsried, Germany, April 29, 2009 / b3c newswire / - Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH has successfully applied its Cellular Target Profiling® technology to identify the protein kinase mTOR as a new cellular target of celecoxib (Celebrex®, Pfizer). Celecoxib is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory Cox-2 inhibitor approved for the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and acute pain. In addition, celecoxib’s anti-proliferative effect has earned it a place in numerous clinical trials against several malignancies.

The discovery that celecoxib targets mTOR contributes to a better understanding of the drug’s mode of action and efficacy in cancer patients. mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) acts as a central regulator of cell proliferation, cell survival, angiogenesis and cell metabolism. Moreover, mTOR is a key intracellular convergence point for a number of signaling pathways that are abnormally activated in many types of cancer.

As traditional drug development approaches become more and more expensive, drug repositioning has been widely recognized as an opportunity to expand a drug’s therapeutical applications. Here, Cellular Target Profiling® provides a powerful approach to revealing new targets that indicate additional or alternative medical uses for clinically validated or approved drugs. Further information on celecoxib reprofiling (AN3) and similar studies with other small molecules (e.g. profiling of the natural product geldanamycin, AN2) can be downloaded from our website at www.kinaxo.com.

Link to the news release
http://www.b3cnewswire.com/popup.php?id=149

About KINAXO
Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH is a privately-held biotechnology company based in Munich/Martinsried, Germany. We offer advanced chemical proteomics and phosphoproteomics services to support lead compound selection, target deconvolution, drug reprofiling, and off-target toxicity assessment. Kinaxo has several ongoing collaborations, including with Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson & Johnson and Takeda.

Posted under Cancer Research, Drug Development, Europe, Medicinal Chemistry, Press Releases, Proteomics, Targeted Libraries  |  Comments Off

Salk Forms Stem Cell Partnership With Sanofi-Aventis

Last Updated on Friday, 27 March 2009 09:35 Written by admin Friday, 27 March 2009 09:35

The Salk Institute says it has formed a new stem cell research partnership with Sanofi-Aventis, the international pharmaceutical giant based in Paris. Financial terms of the five-year alliance were not disclosed, and some details of the deal remain to be worked out, Salk spokesman Mauricio Minotta told me this afternoon.

The Sanofi-Aventis regenerative medicine program will sponsor grants in promising research areas, and is intended to provide long-term, multi-participant collaborations between scientists at San Diego-based Salk and Sanofi-Aventis. “It’s meant to be a true collaboration, it’s not just funding,” says Michael White, who oversees the institute’s office of technology management and development. Sanofi-Aventis has about 16,000 employees in the United States, mostly at its U.S. headquarters in Bridgewater, NJ, and about 100,000 employees worldwide.

The program also will provide unrestricted support for the Salk Institute’s stem cell facility, which was created as a separate laboratory supported by private funding during the years the Bush Administration had placed restrictions on federal stem cell funding.

In a statement, Salk president William Brody says there are no preconditions concerning the collaborative alliance. “Our scientists will continue to freely explore cutting-edge research and publish their work,” Brody says. (That’s important to academic freedom, because companies have been known to try to squelch research findings if they don’t support the company’s marketing message.) Under this deal, Salk will also gain access to “extensive resources” at Sanofi-Aventis, which includes a large-scale facility in Tucson, AZ, for screening compounds with potential to be new drugs.

“That’s something that’s very attractive to us, to be able to screen our targets with their drugs,”White says.

Such industry collaborations could be a sign of the times. In January, San Diego’s Burnham Institute for Medical Research announced a multi-year agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceutical Research and Development unit.

Source: xconomy.com

Posted under Collaborations, Compound Libraries, Compound Screening, Europe, North America, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

Thermo Fisher Scientific Accelerates Drug Discovery Process With New Maybridge Quick2Leadâ„¢ Compound Kits

Last Updated on Friday, 27 March 2009 09:32 Written by admin Friday, 27 March 2009 09:32

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, announced recently that it has introduced a novel tool to accelerate hit-to-lead programmes in the drug discovery process. Its Maybridge Quick2Leadâ„¢ Compound Kits are designed to save time and money by enabling rapid compound library synthesis around bioactive “hits” emerging from screening assays. The kits are made up of pre-weighed, diverse building block selections, facilitating rapid capture of structure-activity (SAR) data from the closely related structural analogues within the library.

Quick2Lead Compound Kits are available as five functionality-based kits, with each one containing 48 carefully selected compounds. This enables the exploration of a wide area of chemical space to maximise credible SAR data acquisition for the successful conversion of an initial hit into a genuine, optimisable lead. Since these compounds are all pre-weighed, the kits are ready to use by simply adding solvent and transferring straight to a synthesiser.

The five functional groups available include: carboxylic acids, sulfonyl chlorides, amines, anilines and boronic acids. Each of these different functional groups is applicable to a wide range of tried and trusted parallel synthesis methodologies. Furthermore, although each kit taps into the hugely diverse Maybridge collection, they all include compounds from the top levels of the relevant Topliss Tree, thereby ensuring quality and rigour in interaction testing.

Each of the pre-selected compounds is supplied as 0.1mMol in a 5mL vial. This saves time and money at several levels — minimising stock, avoiding disposal and reducing storage footprint. The pre-selection process also avoids the “dead time” that can be experienced whilst waiting for multiple building blocks from internal and external sources. Maybridge Quick2Lead Kits arrive as a complete library, delivered rapidly ex-stock.

“Our aim with the Maybridge product range is to help shorten the discovery process, from screening to scale-up, and the introduction of our Quick2Lead Compound Kits is the latest addition to our broad product portfolio of pharmacophorically relevant compounds and services,” said Dr. Mick Durrant, Director of Business Development for Maybridge products at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We recognise that identifying, sourcing and weighing building blocks to feed the library production process around an initial hit can be time consuming and expensive. Our new Quick2Lead Kits offer a novel approach to drive these costs down by providing pre-weighed, diverse building block selections which are simply ready-to-go.”

About Maybridge
Maybridge, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, is well known for providing highly innovative drug-like molecules and screening compounds for drug discovery and development. With products available for both lab and development scale, they specialise in producing new heterocyclic and phenyl ring-based chemical building blocks, including a unique and expanding range of reactive intermediates.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, enabling our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. With annual revenues of $10.5B, we have more than 34,000 employees and serve over 350,000 customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions and government agencies, as well as environmental and industrial process control settings. Serving customers through two premier brands, Thermo Scientific and Fisher Scientific, we help solve analytical challenges from routine testing to complex research and discovery. Thermo Scientific offers customers a complete range of high-end analytical instruments as well as laboratory equipment, software, services, consumables and reagents to enable integrated laboratory workflow solutions. Fisher Scientific provides a complete portfolio of laboratory equipment, chemicals, supplies and services used in healthcare, scientific research, safety and education. Together, we offer the most convenient purchasing options to customers and continuously advance our technologies to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery, enhance value for customers and fuel growth for shareholders and employees alike.

SOURCE: Thermo Scientific Brand Products, Part of Thermo Fisher

Posted under Compound Libraries, Diversity Libraries, Drug-Like Compounds, Europe, New Products, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

The French Institute I-Stem Realizes First Innovative Screens Using Stem Cells to Identify Drugs for Myotonic Dystrophy

Last Updated on Friday, 20 March 2009 05:02 Written by Editor Friday, 20 March 2009 05:02

EVRY, France, March 19 /PRNewswire/ –     Four research teams of I-STEM[*] have joined forces in a collaborative project that has just achieved a first pilot therapy-oriented screen of compounds and RNA interference aiming at reversing the altered phenotypes observed in human embryonic stem cells carrying the mutant gene for myotonic dystrophy type1. This assay inaugurates a series of R&D planned in 2009.Human embryonic stem (hES) cells lines carrying the mutant gene responsible for diseases may replicate associated molecular defects associated and be used, therefore, to analyse pathological mechanisms and search for treatments. I-STEM teams have shown that hES cell lines carrying the mutant gene responsible for myotonic dystrophy type1 (DM1) -the most frequent myopathy in adult- present known cellular and molecular abnormalities. hES capacity of self-renewal and pluripotency provides an unlimited and highly versatile cell resource, relevant for large-scale analyses. In order to exploit fully these potentials of hES cell lines within the framework of its exploration of therapeutics for monogenic diseases, I-STEM has set up a screening department through a close partnership with the companies Velocity11, Discngine and Prestwick Chemical. I-STEM has installed at its site, in Evry-Genopole, a powerful automation platform using the innovative Velocity11 BioCel1800(R) technology, coupled to a specific data management system designed by Discngine. The Conseil Régional d’Ile-de-France and the Association Française contre les Myopathies (thanks to the French Telethon donations) co-funded this platform[**]. The investments to build  this facility assays have been developed in order to screen the “FDA  approved” Prestwick Chemical library and a subset of the in house designed  siRNA (small interferent RNA) library.

Using this screening platform, the I-STEM teams have looked for compounds and siRNA that would provoke the disruption of abnormal aggregation seen in the nucleus of human embryonic stem cells carrying the DM1 mutation. Several of the 1120 compounds and 50 siRNA assayed were identified as candidates.

I–STEM intends to perform five to ten similar screening campaigns per year on other genetic diseases, using its library of human stem cell lines carrying genetic mutations[***].

About I-STEM

The Institute for Stem Cells in the Treatment and Study of Monogenic Diseases- is a laboratory which has set out to explore the therapeutic potential of stem cells in the treatment of rare genetic diseases. Headed by Marc Peschanski (an INSERM Research Director), I-STEM was in early 2005, the first lab in France to be allowed to work on (imported) human embryonic stem cell lines. Then, in June 2006, it was authorized by the French Agency for Biomedicine to set up a library of mutated cell lines that can serve as models in the study of monogenic diseases. For more information: http://www.istem.eu

Posted under Collaborations, Compound Screening, Europe, Press Releases, RNA Reasearch, Stem Cell Research  |  Comments Off

Flavor/Fragrance Ingredients in the Works

Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 March 2009 12:21 Written by Editor Tuesday, 10 March 2009 12:21

DORTMUND, Germany and MILAN—The joint research efforts of InterMed Discovery (IMD) and Axxam SpA have resulted in a technology platform that offers screening solutions and the discovery of natural bioactive compounds valuable to companies in the food, beverages, flavor and fragrance industries.

Based on that success, the companies signed a second joint research agreement that will focus on discovery and validation of flavor/fragrance functional ingredients, which will then be offered to food, beverages, flavor and fragrance companies. The proprietary compounds will have clearly defined activity profiles and naturally derived chemical properties.

“This cooperation is a direct response to what we see as growing market needs,” said Dr. Thomas Henkel, managing director of InterMed Discovery. “Our innovative approach to developing natural functional ingredients together with Axxam caters perfectly to the increasing market demand for turnkey solutions.”

Posted under Europe, Europe, Events, New Products, North America, Press Releases, Research Projects, USA and Canada  |  Comments Off

Prous Institute Presents Innovative Approach to Drug Discovery

Last Updated on Tuesday, 3 March 2009 03:44 Written by Editor Tuesday, 3 March 2009 03:44

BARCELONA, February 26 /PRNewswire/ — Prous Institute for Biomedical Research today presented its strategies for drug discovery on its newly designed website (http://www.prousresearch.com). A large computational project with basic research support and broad disease coverage is being developed at Prous Institute under the broad-based Epistemic Drug Discovery(R) project.

President and C.E.O. of the Institute, Dr. J.R. Prous, explained that “We are committed to accelerating biomedical knowledge by the synchronization of powerful expert knowledge-based systems and basic research. This next-generation drug R&D force is expected to increase the efficiency and efficacy of core drug R&D processes, facilitating continuous innovation.”

Two main drug discovery programs are being developed at the Institute. One is focused on the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new small-molecule modulators of autophagy as therapeutic agents for cancer and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease). Another program looks at target-driven drug discovery from natural sources, covering type 2 diabetes, psychological stress and asthma. The Institute’s computational tools enable the in silico screening of thousands of natural products in a rapid, reliable and cost-effective manner, as well as the discovery of new targets and new uses for existing drugs.

J.R. Prous commented “our approach is bringing us closer to drug discovery, and the Institute expects to have several compounds in preclinical evaluation by the end of this year (2009).”

Posted under Drug Development, Europe, Europe, Events, News by Region, News by Subject, North America, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

International Symposium Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Sclerosis: Sharing the Experience in Moscow, Russia on the 5th of October, 2009

Last Updated on Friday, 23 January 2009 11:35 Written by admin Friday, 23 January 2009 11:34

The Symposium is focused on the new modality of multiple sclerosis treatment– immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation. Centers in Europe, North and South America, Russia, China, Israel and Australia have successfully performed this procedure, and, to date, more than 600 stem cell transplantations in multiple sclerosis have been performed worldwide.

Along with promising results there are a number of unclear and challenging issues that are worth studying.

The Symposium intends to share the newly acquired knowledge in the field, to discuss the challenges and perspectives of the method, and to develop collaborative projects. The topics to be covered within the symposium include:

  • Regimens of conditioning: Immunoablation or immunosupression?
  • Types of transplantation: autologous or allogenic?
  • Posttransplant immunological reconstitution
  • Side effects
  • Outcome measures: clinical, imaging, patient-reported outcomes
  • Posttransplant neurorehabilitation
  • Long-term follow-up results
  • Proposal for cooperative studies

We invite the submission of abstracts on the above aspects of stem cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis. All abstracts will be reviewed by an international committee and a number of abstracts will be selected for oral presentation within the Symposium.

www.stemcellms.ru

Posted under Cell Analysis, Europe, Europe, Press Releases, Stem Cell Research  |  Comments Off

Nanion nominated for The German Industry’s Innovation Award

Last Updated on Friday, 23 January 2009 10:22 Written by admin Friday, 23 January 2009 10:22

Munich, Germany, Jan 20th, 2009; Nanion is again nominated for a prestigious
innovation award, due its impressive product portfolio of automated patch clamp
systems. More than 350 companies competed in this year’s Innovation Award and
Nanion is finalist in the category “Start-Up Companies”.

The German Industry’s Innovation Award, also the world’s first innovation award, has since 1980 annually nominated and rewarded the nation’s most important scientific and technical innovations. Nanion is one of the five remaining candidates for the award and the winner will be announced on January 24th, 2009.

“To remain a profitable and leading provider of advanced and high quality ion channel drug screening systems, we constantly seek new inventions and solutions that are attractive to industrial and academic institutions.” says Michael George, CTO of Nanion. Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion, continues “Our three product families for sophisticated cell analysis are
being used in the development of new medicines as well as in academic research. With the latest introduction of our high throughput patch clamp system, the SyncroPatch 96, the screening of ion channel drugs is revolutionized in terms of time and cost efficiency. We are happy and honoured that our products and technology are receiving such recognition by the nomination for this award.”

The SyncroPatch 96 is Nanion’s next generation screening platform, capable of highly parallel
recordings from up to 96 cells at a time. It will be launched at the Biophysical Society’s Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, USA, in the end of February, 2009. The SyncroPatch 96 is the first platform on the market to date that supports giga-seal recordings at a throughput of 5000 data points per day.
About Nanion:
Nanion Technologies GmbH is a German Private Limited Company and was founded in 2002 as a spinoff from the Center for Nanoscience (CeNS) of the University of Munich. Nanion’s team has developed and globally established two highly successful automated patch clamp instruments as enabling tools for sophisticated and high throughput applications for ion channel research and drug discovery. Nanion’s instruments use planar patch clamp chips which replace the traditional glass pipette used in the technique of patch clamping. Nanion was nominated in 2007 for Germany’s most prestigious innovation award the Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize, Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation).

Posted under Equipment & Supplies, Europe, Grants and Awards, New Products, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

Richter-Helm and Athera Biotechnologies Partner in Development of Recombinant Protein to Treat Cardiovascular Disease

Last Updated on Friday, 23 January 2009 10:19 Written by admin Friday, 23 January 2009 10:19

Hamburg, Germany and Stockholm, Sweden, January 21st, 2009 — Richter-Helm BioLogics GmbH & Co. KG and Athera Biotechnologies AB have signed an agreement for the development and manufacturing of Athera’s novel product for prevention of plaque rupture and athero-thrombosis through binding of the protein, Annexin A5, to endothelium. The recombinant protein Annexin A5 is intended for the treatment of patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome and who are at imminent risk for Myocardial Infarction.

This agreement secures a highly cost efficient long-term development and manufacturing plan for Athera, including possible future large volume commercial production. Annexin A5 is a biotechnology product produced using Richter-Helm’s proprietary E. coli based expression system. Richter-Helm will initiate strain and process development of the new process, reaching a 1000 litre production scale.

“The Annexin A5 project fits well with the competence and experience of our company. We are confident that our collaboration will be as efficient and constructive as our negotiations were. Our state-of-the-art facilities are ideal for producing the high-quality Annexin A5 required to comply with the standards of the regulatory agencies.”, stated Dr. Bert Behnke, Managing Director of Richter-Helm.

“We are very pleased to get Richter-Helm as our development partner, they have an excellent reputation. We have now secured cost competitive and high quality production for clinical and commercial use”, said Carina Schmidt, CEO of Athera Biotechnologies.

Posted under Collaborations, Europe, Medicinal Chemistry, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

International symposium “Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Sclerosis, October 5th, 2009 Moscow, Russia

Last Updated on Friday, 23 January 2009 11:42 Written by admin Tuesday, 13 January 2009 06:19

International symposium “Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Sclerosis: Sharing the Experience” will be held  on October 5th, 2009 in  Moscow, Russia. Symposuim Organizers are Pirogov National Medical Surgical Center, National Center for Research and Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases, Russian Cooperative Group for Cellular Therapy, New Jersey Center for Quality of Life and Health Outcomes Research.

The symposium will be the first special meeting fully meant to discuss the state-of-the-art and perspectives of the new and quite promising method of multiple sclerosis treatment – high dose immunosuppressive therapy + autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It intends to share the newly acquired knowledge in the field, to discuss challenges and perspectives of the method, and to develop collaborative projects. The topics to be covered within the symposium include:
“    Regimens of conditioning: Immunoablation or immunosupression?
“    Types of transplantation: autologous or allogenic?
“    Posttransplant immunological reconstitution
“    Side effects
“    Outcome measures: clinical, imaging, patient-reported outcomes
“    Posttransplant neurorehabilitation
“    Long-term follow-up results
“    Proposals for cooperative studies

Neurologists, immunologists, transplantologists, hematolosits, specialists in stem cell research are invited to participate in the Symposium.

Key dates:

1 March 2009 -   Deadline for abstract submission
1 April 2009   -   Deadline for early registration

Symposium Organizers Contact Information:

Tel: +7 495 463 4923 or +7 962 710 17 11

Web-site: http://www.stemcellms.ru

Posted under Clinical Trials, Europe, Europe, Medicinal Chemistry, North America, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

Galapagos enters strategic alliance in diabetes and obesity with Merck & Co., Inc.

Last Updated on Monday, 12 January 2009 03:47 Written by Editor Monday, 12 January 2009 03:47

Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today that it has entered into a multi-year global strategic alliance with Merck & Co., Inc. to develop potential new therapies in obesity and diabetes.

Galapagos will be responsible for the discovery and pre-clinical development of new small molecule candidate drugs based on novel Galapagos targets. Merck will have the exclusive option to license each candidate for clinical development and commercialization on a worldwide basis. The alliance will make use of Galapagos’ proprietary SilenceSelect(R: 36.098, -1.882, -4.96%) target discovery platform for identification of novel targets in obesity and diabetes. After validation, targets will be selected by a joint steering committee and entered into screening and chemistry by Galapagos. Merck has the option to acquire an exclusive license to each candidate drug and upon exercise of such an option, Merck will be responsible for the development and commercialization of the candidate drug. Galapagos may execute phase I clinical studies and will have the right to further develop and commercialize certain compounds for which Merck does not exercise its exclusive option.

Under the terms of the agreement, Galapagos will receive an upfront fee of EUR 1.5 million from Merck. In addition Galapagos is eligible to receive discovery, development and regulatory milestone payments that could potentially exceed EUR 170 million total for multiple products, as well as specific sales milestones and royalties upon commercialization of any products covered under the agreement.

“The alliance with Merck in obesity and diabetes further demonstrates Galapagos’ ability to expand into new therapeutic areas,” said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO. “Galapagos has a proven track record of delivering on its alliance programs, making us attractive to potential pharma partners seeking to fill their pipelines with medicines based on novel modes of action. Galapagos has been successful through careful management of its R&D programs; this early stage alliance with Merck fits nicely into our alliance infrastructure as other programs advance into later stages.”

“By combining Galapagos’ novel target identification strategy with Merck’s drug development expertise this collaboration provides a unique opportunity to discover and develop potential new therapies for diabetes and obesity,” said Catherine Strader, Vice President, External Basic Research, Merck Research Laboratories.

Conference call and webcast presentation

Galapagos will conduct a conference call open to the public today at 11.30 Central European Time (CET: 14.7001, -0.06, -0.41%), which will also be webcast. To participate in the conference call, please call +31 20 794 8504, ten minutes prior to commencement. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Click here to access the live audio webcast. The archived webcast also will be available for replay shortly after the close of the call.

About diabetes and obesity

Diabetes mellitus is a disorder in which blood sugar (glucose) levels are abnormally high because the body does not produce enough insulin to meet its needs. Patients with diabetes type 1 (10% of diabetes patients) have lost the ability to produce insulin themselves. In type 2 diabetes, patients develop resistance to the effects of insulin; obesity is the chief risk factor in developing this type, as 80-90% of patients with type 2 diabetes are obese. Diabetes symptoms include increased urination, thirst, and weight loss. Diabetes also can lead to nerve damage, blood vessel damage, and increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure. About 15% of people over the age of 70 develop Type 2 diabetes. Treatment of diabetes involves diet, exercise, education, and, for most people, drugs. Global sales of diabetes drugs totaled $15 billion in 2005[1].

Obesity is the excess accumulation of body fat and is defined as having a Body Mass Index[2] > 30. Being obese increases the risk of many disorders, such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers, and can result in high blood pressure and early death. Increasing activity and reducing caloric intake are essential to treating obesity, but some people also need to take drugs. Around 10% of the world population is obese[3], and sales of obesity drugs in the world’s largest markets are expected to grow from $500 million in 2006 to more than $2 billion by 2016[4].

About Galapagos

Galapagos (Euronext Brussels: GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam: GLPGA; OTC: GLPYY) is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programs in bone and joint diseases and bone metastasis. Its BioFocus DPI division offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, encompassing target discovery and validation, screening and drug discovery through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates. BioFocus DPI also provides adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets, compound libraries for drug screening as well as chemogenomics and ADMET database products to select targets and compounds. Galapagos currently employs about 460 people and operates facilities in six countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More information about Galapagos can be found at www.glpg.com.

Posted under Collaborations, Europe, North America, Press Releases, Targeted Libraries  |  Comments Off

Vanderbilt University Announces Partnership with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. for Schizophrenia Drug Research

Last Updated on Monday, 12 January 2009 03:46 Written by Editor Monday, 12 January 2009 03:46

Vanderbilt University is pleased to announce a licensing and research agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., focusing on discovery of novel drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia. Under the terms of the agreement Vanderbilt University grants Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. a worldwide exclusive license to existing compounds acting on a neurotransmitter receptor target, and provides a mechanism for the discovery and licensing of additional novel compounds over the next three years.

The licensing and research agreement provides for a total of $10 million in upfront payment and committed research funding to the laboratory of Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., Director of Vanderbilt’s Program in Drug Discovery. Additional payments will be made based on meeting certain milestones and through royalties on product sales.

Vanderbilt will use its state-of-the-art drug discovery infrastructure, including high throughput screening, medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, and pharmacology testing, to create novel compounds with properties compatible with becoming schizophrenia drugs. In addition to carrying selected compounds from the collaboration into clinical development and through commercialization, Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. will bring its expertise to the partnership through input on compound design, synthesis and later -stage safety and pharmacokinetic studies.

“This is another milestone for our Program in Drug Discovery and we are excited to be teaming up with one of the world’s leading developers of drugs for treatment of schizophrenia, said Conn. “It is also a testament to Vanderbilt’s commitment to new approaches to drug discovery and developing new models by which academic institutions work closely with industry partners to deliver new breakthrough medicines that have a fundamental impact on human health.”

Stef Heylen, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, CNS Research and Early Development at Janssen, said, “Academic collaborations are an important part of our drug discovery strategy. This collaboration underscores the synergies between industry and academia that can help to create solutions for addressing unmet medical needs. It is a great example of how we can work together with academia to better understand complex diseases and hopefully bring improved treatments to patients.”

Posted under Collaborations, Europe, Medicinal Chemistry, North America, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

Seegene Receives Approval from Health Canada for Its Respiratory Virus Multi-Pathogen Detection Tests

Last Updated on Sunday, 11 January 2009 05:52 Written by admin Sunday, 11 January 2009 05:52

Seegene Receives Approval from Health Canada for Its Respiratory Virus Multi-Pathogen Detection Tests

Seeplex(R) RV5 and RV12 give Canadian caregivers an effective way to test for a broad range of respiratory viruses and pathogens in one single test.

ROCKVILLE, Maryland and SEOUL, Korea, December 3, 2008 — Seegene, Inc., a leader in multi-pathogen diagnostic testing, today announced that it has received a Medical Device License from Health Canada for its Seeplex(R) RV5 ACE (Auto Capillary Electrophoresis) Screening and RV12 ACE Detection tests. Built on the novel and proprietary Seeplex(R) molecular diagnostic platform that delivers maximum specificity, reproducibility and sensitivity, the Canadian healthcare system can now use the RV5 and RV12 diagnostic tests to further improve patient care, reduce healthcare costs and prevent inappropriate antibiotic use.

Quickly detecting the specific cause of respiratory infections, especially for children, the elderly, and patients whose conditions are compromised by asthma or immune system complications is critical due to the high incidence of these pathogens developing into serious diseases. Unfortunately, respiratory disease caused by viral infection cannot be simply determined from clinical symptoms as most viruses induce both upper and lower respiratory infections.

Using the Seeplex RV5 test, doctors can now simultaneously detect the most prevalent flu viruses such as influenza A, influenza B, and respiratory syncytial virus A/B, and screen for 11 viruses, while the RV12 test identifies 12 viruses individually.

Already permitted for use in more than 30 countries recognizing the CE Mark, the license from Health Canada will bring the RV5 ACE Screening and RV12 ACE Detection tests to North America for the first time. In the United States, more than 50 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions are written each year for patients outside of hospitals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The advantages of Seegene’s novel rapid diagnostic tests will be manifold. With these tests, the therapies targeting a specific pathogen causing the infection for a specific patient can be prescribed much earlier. Another benefit of the test is its ability to enable the continual monitoring of the infection status, which offers a strong potential for reducing hospital stays and freeing up scarce resources for other healthcare needs,” said Jong-Yoon Chun, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seegene.

The ease-of-use for caregivers administering the Seeplex RV5 and RV12 tests and the rapidity of receiving conclusive results belies the power of these multi-pathogen assays to simultaneously test for the most prevalent respiratory viruses.

Jong-Yoon Chun added, “The issuing of a Medical Device License from Health Canada is another important milestone for Seegene. In this era of viral epidemics clinicians require the ability to routinely test for a wide spectrum of respiratory pathogens in a single test. The Seeplex RV tests are uniquely performed with one multiplex PCR in a single tube and capillary electrophoresis for automated detection of pathogens providing a new standard for test reproducibility, specificity and sensitivity.”

About Seegene

Seegene, Inc. is a biotechnology company specialized in molecular diagnostics and research applications. It holds a novel detection platform named “Seeplex(R),” which sets a standard in high-throughput and simultaneous multi-pathogen detection called “multiplexing.” Seeplex(R) technology accurately detects multi-pathogens with high-throughput speed, ultimately providing the most economical basis for saving time, labor and cost. Seegene develops, manufactures and markets innovative molecular diagnostic products and services to a worldwide community. The company has more than 47 distributors in 28 countries, including 2 subsidiary offices in the US and Japan. Its mission is to maintain leadership in molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases, genetics, pharmacogenetics, and oncology, and chromosomal analyses using innovative proprietary technologies. For more information please visit www.seegene.com or call +301-762-9066.

Posted under Asia, Collaborations, Europe, New Products, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

MorphoSys and Galapagos Enter Alliance to Co-develop Novel Therapeutic Antibodies in Bone and Joint Disease

Last Updated on Monday, 1 December 2008 12:59 Written by Editor Monday, 1 December 2008 12:59


Combination of Proprietary Drug Targets and Unique Technologies to Create Range of New Therapeutic Antibodies

MUNICH, GERMANY — (Marketwire) — 11/26/08 — MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime StandardSegment, TecDAX) and Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today the launch of a long term co-development alliance aimed at discovering and developing antibody therapies based on novel modes of action in bone and joint disease, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

The alliance spans all activities from target discovery through to completion of proof of concept clinical trials of novel therapeutic antibodies. Both companies will contribute their core technologies and expertise to the alliance. Galapagos will provide antibody targetsimplicated in bone and joint disease in addition to its adenoviral target discovery platform to discover further targets for antibody development.MorphoSys will contribute its HuCAL antibody technologies to generate fully human antibodies directed against these targets. The initial goal is to further validate the targets through disease-specific in vitro and in vivotesting of the antibodies. After successful validation, the alliance will select antibody programs for pre-clinical and clinical development.Following proof of concept in human clinical trials, programs will be partnered for subsequent development, approval and marketing.

Under the terms of the agreement, Galapagos and MorphoSys will share the research and development costs, as well as all future revenues equally.Decisions will be made by a Joint Steering Committee comprising members of both companies. An initial set of three targets implicated in bone and joint disease has been selected for the collaboration, and Galapagos isalready commencing with production of these proteins for the alliance.Generation of antibodies directed against these targets will start in2009. More targets will be selected using Galapagos’ target discovery platform to fuel the alliance in the coming years. If successful, the first antibody programs based on these novel targets could enter the clinic within four to five years.

“With this alliance, we are adding a biologics strategy to our small molecule drug discovery. Galapagos is the world leader in discovery ofnovel targets, and this alliance with MorphoSys enables us to explore the potential of proprietary antibody targets. Antibody approaches have provento be successful in developing new therapies for major diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. Having both approaches, small molecules andantibodies, to fill our product pipeline in bone and joint disease willfurther establish Galapagos as the leader in this field,” said Onno van deStolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos. “With our cash position and revenue streams from both BioFocus DPI and our pharma alliances, we are in a good financial position to enter into this alliance to create value for our shareholders.”

“This alliance represents a major step in our efforts to gain access to novel antibody targets for proprietary drug development in disease areas with a high unmet medical need. The partnership with Galapagos combines both the scientific and financial strength of two leading companies in their space,” said Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys. “We are excited to combine our broad antibody expertise with Galapagos’ target discovery capabilities and disease know-how to form a successful partnership. The access to novel disease-related target molecules from a renowned partner accelerates the expansion of our proprietary antibody pipeline. This alliance also complements our development efforts in the field of inflammation and arthritis includingour lead program MOR103.”

With this strategic alliance, MorphoSys gains access to a proven target discovery engine as well as to Galapagos’ expertise in bone and joint disease, to support its therapeutic antibody pipeline expansion. The threemain indications of bone and joint disease – rheumatoid arthritis,osteoporosis and osteoarthritis – all represent very significant marketopportunities with several million people affected worldwide and combinedsales of drug treatments of more than US$ 15 billion in 2006.

Through the alliance with MorphoSys, Galapagos enters the rapidly growingmarket for therapeutic antibodies. In 2007, total sales for the 20antibody drugs on the market amounted to more than US$ 25 billion andantibody sales are forecast to increase to approximately US$ 50 billion in 2013. Fully human antibodies are recognized as the next generation and the majority of therapeutic antibodies currently in development are humanized or fully human. The average industry timescale from discovery to pre-clinical development of antibody therapies is only two to three years, considerably shorter than the average six years for small molecules.Antibodies also incur lower attrition rates than small molecules.

Galapagos and MorphoSys will conduct a conference call and live audio webcast today at 02:00 p.m. CET (8:00 a.m EST) to provide detailed information on the alliance.Dial-in number for the Conference Call (listen-only):Germany & U.K. residents: +32 2 401 53 06For U.S. residents: +1 866 931 1567 Please dial in 10 minutes before the beginning of the conference.Approximately two hours after the press conference, the archived webcast will be available for replay of the conference on http://www.morphosys.comand http://www.glpg.com.

For further information please contact: Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser, Head ofCorporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122, gutjahr-loeser@morphosys.com or Mario Brkulj, Manager CorporateCommunications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454,brkulj@morphosys.com

About Galapagos:

Galapagos (Euronext Brussels: GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam: GLPGA; OTC: GLPYY)is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programs in bone and jointdiseases and bone metastasis. Its BioFocus DPI division offers a fullsuite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceuticaland biotech companies, encompassing target discovery and validation,screening and drug discovery through to delivery of pre-clinicalcandidates. BioFocus DPI also provides adenoviral reagents for rapididentification and validation of novel drug targets, compound libraries fordrug screening as well as chemogenomics and ADMET database products toselect targets and compounds. Galapagos currently employs about 450 peopleand operates facilities in six countries, with global headquarters inMechelen, Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI canbe found at www.glpg.com and www.biofocusdpi.com.

About Galapagos’ target discovery technology:

Galapagos’ target discovery engine is based on adenoviruses thatefficiently introduce human gene sequences into a wide variety of humancells to knock-down specific proteins. High-throughput assays thatrepresent a selected human disease state are then used to functionallyselect for those proteins that have a causative effect in those models ofhuman disease. After rigorous validation of these protein targets, theyform the basis for the development of novel drugs.

About MorphoSys:

MorphoSys is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on thegeneration of fully human antibodies as a means to discover and developinnovative antibody-based drugs against life-threatening diseases.MorphoSys’s goal is to establish HuCAL as the technology of choice forantibody generation in research, diagnostics and therapeutic applications.The Company currently has therapeutic and research alliances with themajority of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies includingBoehringer Ingelheim, Centocor/Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer andRoche. Within these partnerships, more than 50 therapeutic antibodyprograms are ongoing in which MorphoSys participates through exclusivelicense and milestones payments as well as royalties on any end products.Additionally, MorphoSys is active in the antibody research market throughits AbD Serotec business unit. The business unit has operations in Germany(Munich), the U.S. (Raleigh, NC) and U.K. (Oxford). For further informationplease visit http://www.morphosys.com/

HuCAL® and HuCAL GOLD® are registered trademarks of MorphoSys AG

Posted under Business and Investment, Clinical Trials, Collaborations, Discoveries, Innovations and Patents, Drug Development, Europe, Industry News, Medicinal Chemistry, New Drugs, News by Region, News by Subject, North America, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

Trends in Drug Research 27th Noordwijkerhout-Camerino-Cyprus Conference Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, May 3 – 8, 2009

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 November 2008 10:24 Written by admin Thursday, 27 November 2008 10:24

The Symposium is sponsored by the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC).

The Organising and Scientific Committees cordially invite you to attend the 27 edition of this meeting on Trends in Drug Research. The interplay between molecular structure and biological activity is central to contemporary biomedical and translational research, relevant not only to structural biologists but also to diverse scientists involved in the study of bioactive compounds and signalling mediators and those working in drug discovery and development.

The scientific programme will include plenary lectures, oral communications and poster sessions. Registration will open on Sunday May 3, followed by an inaugural evening lecture and a welcome gathering.
The scientific programme ends on Thursday May 7 and the meeting will be concluded by the symposium dinner on Thursday evening. On Friday after the conference, a complimentary workshop “Virtual Screening and De Novo Design” is offered by BioSolveIT.

REGISTRATION Information and the complete SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME is available on the SYMPOSIUM’S WEBSITE: WWW.NOORDWIJKERHOUTMEDCHEM.ORG

PROGRAMME

Opening keynote lecture

Chairman Prof. Henk TIMMERMAN (VU UNIVERSITY AMSTERDAM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Chemistry’s Role In Target Identification And Validation Dr. Scott A. BILLER (NOVARTIS, Cambridge, United States)

KINASE INHIBITORS: TARGETING THE NON-ATP SITE

Chairman: Dr. Edmond DIFFERDING (UCB, Braine-l’Alleud, Belgium)

Discovery And Development of Selective, Orally Bioavailable Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors For Targeted Treatment Of Human Cancers Prof. Stephen K. BURLEY (SGX PHARMACEUTICALS, SAN DIEGO, United States)

Non-Competitive Inhibitors of MEK1: from Discovery to the Clinic Dr. Jeffrey OHREN (PFIZER, GROTON, United States)

Allosteric Inhibition of Kinase Function Philip E. SANDERSON (MERCK, Rahway, United States)

CHEMICAL AND ENZYMATIC MODIFICATION OF THERAPEUTIC PEPTIDES AND PROTEINS TO IMPROVE THEIR MODE OF ACTION

Chairman: Dr. Stan VAN BOECKEL (ORGANON, Oss, The Netherlands)

Title to be announced
Dr. Jesper LAU (NOVO NORDISK, Maaloev, Denmark)

Sugars and Proteins
Prof. Ben DAVIS (OXFORD UNIVERSITY, Oxford, United Kingdom)

CarboCarrier(TM): a Novel Technology to Extend the Half-life of Small Proteins and Peptides Martin DE KORT (ORGANON, Oss, The Netherlands)

PROMISES IN GPCR DRUG DISCOVERY

Chairman: Prof. ROB LEURS (LEIDEN/AMSTERDAM CENTER FOR DRUG RESEARCH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Structural Genomics of GPCRs; New Opportunities for Drug Discovery Chris TATE (MRC LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, Cambridge , Belgium)

GPCR Hetero-Dimerisation: Contribution to Receptor Pharmacology and Function Prof. Graeme MILLIGAN (UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, Glasgow, United Kingdom)

Dicovery & Development of Allosteric Modulators: Hopes and Promises Dr Emmanuel LE POUL (ADDEX PHARMA, Plan les Ouates, Switzerland)

TRANSPORTERS

Chairman: Prof. Gerhard ECKER (UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA, Vienna, Austria)

Predicting Substrate Properties for ABC-Transporter – Safety Sciences on the Molecular Level Prof. Gerhard ECKER (UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA, Vienna, Austria)

Drug Transport and Metabolism: Value of Knockout and Transgenic Mouse Models Dr. Alfred SCHINKEL (HET NEDERLANDS KANKER INSTITUUT , Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Title to be announced
Prof. Robert FORD (THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, Manchester, United Kingdom)

OFF-TARGET EFFECTS

Chairman: Prof. Hugo KUBINYI (Weisenheim am Sand, Germany)

GPCR Antitargets – Prediction and Prevention of Side Effects Dr. Thomas KLABUNDE (SANOFI-AVENTIS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

Understanding Ion Channels Using Computational Approaches Dr. Marcel J. DE GROOT (PFIZER, Sandwich, United Kingdom)

The QSARome of the Receptorome: Development of Robust QSAR Models Capable of Predicting Compound Binding Profiles against Multiple Targets Prof. Alexander TROPSHA (UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL, Chapel Hill, United States)

FRAGMENT BASED DRUG DISCOVERY

Chairman: Dr. Iwan DE ESCH (VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT AMSTERDAM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Experiences in Fragment-based Lead Discovery Prof. Roderick E. HUBBARD (UNIVERSITY OF YORK, York, United Kingdom)

SPR Biosensor-Based Fragment Screening and Lead Characterization Prof. U. Helena DANIELSON (UPPSALA UNIVERSITY, Uppsala, Sweden)

Novel-Generation Kinase Inhibitors: Deep Pocket Binders by Fragment- Based Design Dr. Gerhard MÃœLLER (CSO PROTEROS FRAGMENTS GMBH, Munich/Martinsried, Germany)

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUG DISCOVERY

Chairman: Robin THURMOND (JOHNSON & JOHNSON, San Diego, United States)

Histamine H4 Antagonists as Future Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Robin THURMOND (JOHNSON & JOHNSON, San Diego, United States)

JAK3 Kinase: a Molecular Target for Treatment of Inflammatory Diseases and Renal Transplant Rejection Dr. Paul S. CHANGELIAN (CHANGELIAN BIOSCIENCE, LLC, , United States)

Molecular Mechanim of Action for Chemokine and Other Anti-inflammatory Agents on 7TM Receptors Dr. Thue W. SCHWARTZ (UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN, Copenhagen, Denmark)

Complimentary Workshop on Friday: “Virtual Screening and De Novo Design” offered by BioSolveIT Late Departure – the transportation will be provided by the organisers.

http://www.LDOrganisation.com

Posted under ADMET Studies, Drug Development, Europe, Europe, Press Releases, Targeted Libraries  |  Comments Off

Fragment Based Screening Service at CRELUX and ZoBio

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 November 2008 10:04 Written by admin Thursday, 27 November 2008 10:04

Munich (D) and Leiden (NL), November 24, 2008 / b3c newswire /  – CRELUX and ZoBio announced today that they have successfully executed their first fragment based screening projects from a jointly established platform.

One of the first targets, which also will be made accessible to customers, was Pim1, a kinase that has been implicated in the progression of several haematological malignancies. In addition to the “off the shelf” data on Pim1, tailor made fragment based screening projects are available for customers upon request.

The joint technology platform combines ZoBio’s proprietary Target Immobilized NMR Screening (TINS) technology with CRELUX’s high performance kinase crystallography platform. In the first campaign Pim1 was screened by TINS using ZoBio’s fragment library, hits were assessed in an in vitro kinase assay and the top 50 hits have been soaked into protein crystals. 37 out of these 50 fragments showed defined binding modes. Together with this high hit rate the structural diversity within this group generated multiple points for optimization and clearly proved the power of this technology combination.

“We are delighted to have found a perfect partner for entering into high performance fragment based screening. The collaboration with ZoBio adds another crucial drug discovery technology to our service portfolio”, commented Dr. Michael Schäffer, CEO of CRELUX.

“This project demonstrates the power of the combination of TINS with top notch crystallography. I am absolutely convinced that together we can provide our customers with critical starting point to jump start their challenging or failed targets.” noted Dr. Gregg Siegal, CSO of ZoBio.

CRELUX has used its state-of-the-art structural biology platform to solve more than 270 crystal and co-crystal structures for pharma and biotech companies. This platform encompasses all steps – from target cloning and expression all the way to high-throughput protein crystallization and in-house x-ray crystallography.

ZoBio provides fragment discovery and characterization services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries using its proprietary Target Immobilized NMR Screening (TINS) platform. TINS, with its unparalleled sensitivity and reliability, has been used to discovery highly diverse, efficient ligands for a variety of targets including kinases, protein-protein interactions, viral targets and membrane proteins.

Posted under Collaborations, Diversity Libraries, Europe, HT Screening, New Products, Press Releases, Targeted Libraries  |  Comments Off

Nanion Increases Throughput and Cuts Costs with a New Industrial 96-Channel Patch Clamp Screening Robot

Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 November 2008 01:38 Written by Editor Wednesday, 26 November 2008 01:38


Today, Nanion announces the late-stage development of a new automated patch clamp platform: the SyncroPatch 96. Developed to meet the throughput demands of industrial ion channel drug screening and safety profiling, and with a price-per-data-point compatible with screening standards, the SyncroPatch 96 will offer the highest throughput in the market for high quality HTS-oriented ion channel screening.

Munich, Germany, November 20, 2008 –(PR.com)– Following the successful market introduction of two automated patch clamp devices, the Port-a-Patch (2004) and the Patchliner (2006), Nanion now introduces the SyncroPatch 96. Nanion’s Patchliner and Port-a-Patch platforms enjoy great popularity in both academic and industrial settings and have received enthusiastic user feedback in customer surveys such as the HTStec report. Building on their success, the new SyncroPatch 96 vastly increases throughput while reducing the cost per data point to a level compatible with industrial ion channel screening requirements.

“There is a gap between the demands in ion channel drug screening and the capability of the high quality automated patch clamp platforms currently available on the market. Pharmaceutical companies want higher throughput and lower cost per data point, whilst maintaining data quality. The SyncroPatch96 will fill this gap, by providing high throughput, high quality patch clamp recordings, at a low enough cost to keep screeners happy.” says Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion.

The SyncroPatch 96 acquires simultaneous recordings from 96 individual cells in a well-plate format and allows for screening of both ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels. The platform supports giga-seal recordings, continuous recording during compound application and addition of multiple compounds to each of the 96 cells. The SyncroPatch 96 will be launched in 2009.

About Nanion:

Nanion Technologies GmbH is a German Private Limited Company and was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from the Center for Nanoscience (CeNS) of the University of Munich. Nanion’s team has developed and globally established two highly successful automated patch clamp instruments as enabling tools for sophisticated and high throughput applications for ion channel research and drug discovery.

Nanion’s instruments use planar patch clamp chips which replace the traditional glass pipette used in the technique of patch clamping. Nanion was nominated in 2007 for Germany’s most prestigious innovation award the Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize, Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation).

Posted under Compound Screening, Europe, Industry News, New Products, News by Region, News by Subject, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

A new approach to functional screening of siRNA knockdown

Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 November 2008 01:55 Written by Editor Wednesday, 26 November 2008 01:37


KINGSTON, England, Nov. 25, 2008-Guava Technologies, Inc. presented at the recent Molecular Targets & Cancer Therapeutics Symposium* information on their recent advancements that describe an experimental methodology and the new Guava® Simplicity Analysis Software which exploit the advantages of plate based flow technology. These technological improvements result in an overall process that can significantly expedite the drug discovery process by providing a means for extraction of key findings from the highly complex data sets encountered with functional screening of siRNA knockdown assays.

Solid tumors comprise genetically heterogeneous cell populations whose growth and survival depends on the complex interplay of distinct, yet overlapping, signaling networks. A major challenge in developing a course of therapy is determining which signaling nodes to target for a specific malignancy. Profiles from siRNA gene silencing are integral to mapping disease-specific signaling cascade(s) and provide insight to key targets for therapeutic intervention. Successful siRNA screening relies not solely upon optimizing transfection, but also cell analysis systems capable of high content screening (HCS) at the single cell level, within overall populations (sample well), and across multiple data sets.

The presentation describes how the Guava EasyCyteâ„¢ Plus System, with integrated Guava Simplicity Software, provides a revolutionary platform for secondary target validation and compound screening. Guava Technologies’ flow cytometers overcome the limitations of inference-based measurements of transfection efficiency and protein knockdown through direct quantitiative analysis of populations at the single cell level. The Simplicity Analysis Software’s intuitive architecture and ease of use facilitates the process of asking biological questions on multi-dimensional data sets through visualisation of user-defined parameters in the form of heat-maps. Most importantly, comparative results are displayed at the experiment level rather than on an individual well/sample basis.

Specifically, using the EasyCyte Plus System in tandem with Simplicity Analysis Software, 23 agents were identified that had growth restrictive properties although significant variation across cell lines was observed. Further targeted gene knockdown via siRNA confirmed the presence of both activators and inhibitors of Camptothecin-induced apoptosis as well as gene targets for growth arrest. Screens for apoptosis and cell cycle, as well as phospho-signaling intermediates, defined compounds with mechanisms of action similar to and different from Camptothecin. Cell-based assays for phenotype and function revealed a number of cooperative and antagonistic interactions between signaling intermediates, their respective cascades, and cytoactive agents.

Overall, the acquired multiplex data set is shown to provide a more detailed view on the behaviour of each of the test compounds with respect to apoptotic induction, cell cycle progression, and the signaling cascades that regulate these cellular responses to drug treatment. In total, this experimental methodology, when used in conjunction with Guava Technologies’ cell analysis platforms and Simplicity Analysis Software, significantly expedites the drug discovery process by providing a means for extraction of key biological findings from complex result sets.

If you would like more information on this application it is available for download from http://guavatechnologies.com/cm/Resources/Scientific%20Pubs.html. More information about the company and its products is available at www.guavatechnologies.com.

Guava Technologies, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, is the leading provider of on-demand, easy-to-use single cell analysis systems. Guava® Systems, including the Guava® Personal Cell Analysis (PCA), Guava Auto CD4/CD4%, Guava® PCA-96 and Guava EasyCyteâ„¢ Systems, are integrated, fully optimised, microcapillary cytometry systems with embedded absolute cell counting capability. Used worldwide by the life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries, as well as clinical testing institutions (outside the United States and Europe), products from Guava Technologies have broad applications in scientific research and throughout the drug discovery and lead optimisation process, as well as for cell counting and optimisation of commercial biopharmaceutical production. Guava Technologies offers a variety of assays and dedicated software modules for the Guava Systems, enhancing the system’s overall ease-of-use.

* Guava, Guava Technologies Logo, and all other trademarks are property of Guava Technologies, Inc. * Guava® Simplicity Analysis Software is for Research Use Only. Not for use in Diagnostic procedures. * This symposium took place at the EORTC-NCI-AACR meeting in Geneva, Switzerland (21-24 October 2008)

Posted under BioInformatics, Cell-based Assays, Discoveries, Innovations and Patents, Equipment & Supplies, Europe, Industry News, News by Region, News by Subject, Press Releases, RNA Reasearch  |  Comments Off

Nanion increases throughput and cuts costs with a new industrial 96-channel patch clamp screening robot

Last Updated on Friday, 21 November 2008 09:26 Written by admin Friday, 21 November 2008 09:26

Munich, Germany, November 18th, 2008; Today, Nanion announces the late-stage
development of a new automated patch clamp platform: the SyncroPatch 96.
Developed to meet the throughput demands of industrial ion channel drug screening
and safety profiling, and with a price-per-data-point compatible with screening
standards, the SyncroPatch 96 will offer the highest throughput in the market for high quality HTS-oriented ion channel screening.
Following the successful market introduction of two automated patch clamp devices, the Port-a-Patch (2004) and the Patchliner (2006), Nanion now introduces the SyncroPatch 96. Nanion’s Patchliner and Port-a-Patch platforms enjoy great popularity in both academic and industrial settings and have received enthusiastic user feedback in customer surveys such as the HTStec report. Building on their success, the new SyncroPatch 96 vastly increases throughput while reducing the cost per data point to a level compatible with industrial ion channel screening requirements.

“There is a gap between the demands in ion channel drug screening and the capability of the high quality automated patch clamp platforms currently available on the market. Pharmaceutical companies want higher throughput and lower cost per data point, whilst maintaining data quality. The SyncroPatch96 will fill this gap, by providing high throughput, high quality patch clamp recordings, at a low enough cost to keep screeners happy.” says Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion.

The SyncroPatch 96 acquires simultaneous recordings from 96 individual cells in a well-plate format and allows for screening of both ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels. The platform supports giga-seal recordings, continuous recording during compound application and addition of multiple compounds to each of the 96 cells. The SyncroPatch 96 will be launched in 2009.
About Nanion:

Nanion Technologies GmbH is a German Private Limited Company and was founded in 2002 as a spinoff from the Center for Nanoscience (CeNS) of the University of Munich. Nanion’s team has developed and globally established two highly successful automated patch clamp instruments as enabling tools for sophisticated and high throughput applications for ion channel research and drug discovery.

Nanion’s instruments use planar patch clamp chips which replace the traditional glass pipette used in the technique of patch clamping. Nanion was nominated in 2007 for Germany’s most prestigious innovation award the Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize, Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation).

Posted under Equipment & Supplies, Europe, New Products, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

Vienna to Host BIO-Europe 2009

Last Updated on Friday, 21 November 2008 09:23 Written by admin Friday, 21 November 2008 08:20

Zurich, Switzerland; Carlsbad, USA; Vienna, Austria, November 20, 2008 – At the closing of BIO-Europe  2008 in Mannheim/Heidelberg which saw 2400 life science executives engage in an astounding 10,250 one-to-one meetings, EBD Group today announced that next year’s BIO-Europe partnering conference will pay a visit to Vienna, Austria. The 15th annual edition of BIO-Europe, the world’s largest stand-alone partnering event will gather leaders of the life science industry at the Wiener Messe on Nov. 2–4, 2009 to take dealmaking to a new level. This represents the first time in the conference’s 14 year history that it will venture outside of Germany, and is testimony to the recognition of the Vienna region’s emergence as a robust cluster of biotech innovation.

Joining LISA VR in welcoming BIO-Europe 2009 will be the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labor, the City of Vienna, the Austrian Business Agency and the Center for Innovation and Technology. In the recent years over 140 life science companies have been established in Vienna.

“The biotechnology scene in our region already employs nearly 10,000 people many of whom specialize in red biotechnology. Five life science universities, outstanding research institutions such as IMP and IMBA, international corporations with headquarters in Vienna for the Eastern and South Eastern European markets and numerous dynamic start-up companies have combined to make the industry a showpiece for Austrian technology policy,” said Michaela Fritz and Eva Czernohorszky, Managing Directors of LISA VR.

Latest news from the Viennese emerging start-up scene offer proof of the dynamism of this young life science location. For example, Affiris recently secured EUR 430 million from GlaxoSmithKline for the rights to its Alzheimer’s vaccines currently under development, emerging company Intercell is close to market with its Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine, and Fibrex is a company worth monitoring after its positive Phase II results for FX06, a fibrin derived peptide for the treatment of reperfusion injury in myocardial infarction.

Vienna is home to the Research Institute for Molecular Pathology, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, the Austrian Center of Biopharmaceutical Technology, the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group and the Gregor Mendel Institute for Molecular Plant Biology.

The University of Vienna, the Medical University of Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, the University of Veterinary Medicine and the Vienna University of Technology represent five of the universities with a focus on life sciences located in the capital.

Global life science players in Vienna include Baxter BioScience, Boehringer Ingelheim Austria, Eli Lilly’s Vienna School for Clinical Research, Sanochemia and Octapharma.

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group’s partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.

EBD Group’s conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:

•     BIO-Europe and BIO-Europe Spring(R), the world’s largest stand-alone life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

•     BioPharm America(TM), EBD Group’s North American partnering event

•     EuroMedtech(TM), EBD Group’s new partnering event for the innovative medical technology industry

•     BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO

EBD Group’s sophisticated Web-based partnering service, partneringONE(TM), is used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world. Outside of the conference format, EBD Group’s consultants provide hands-on assistance for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies.

EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.

For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

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