EXTON, Pa., June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: DDDP - news) today announced the issuance of its third and fourth patents (U.S. Patents No. 6,214,293 and No. 6,232,085) covering a rapid and broadly applicable method and apparatus for obtaining quantitative measurements of drug-binding affinity to virtually any protein or nucleic acid target -- a technology the company has named ThermoFluor®.
``There is no greater need for pharmaceutical companies in the post-genome era than knowing as quickly as possible which target proteins are amenable to small molecule drug discovery,'' said David C. U'Prichard, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer. ``Our ThermoFluor® technology is well equipped to meet that need. It is a uniquely versatile 'any target' assay that provides a way to screen active compounds for the thousands of new biological targets derived from genomic research, regardless of whether their biological function is understood. This allows scientists to bypass the traditional bottleneck of target validation and customized high-throughput screen development, and get straight into chemistry -- straight into the discovery of potential drug candidates for that target. In the process, months of time may be saved. The two patents announced today are important additions to 3DP's growing intellectual property portfolio.''
F. Raymond Salemme, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer, added that ``ThermoFluor® can be used for both initial hit screening and lead optimization, thus reducing the cost and complexity of assay development and biological testing. It can also be used to quickly interrogate the functional classification of a new and unvalidated target protein, a process 3DP refers to as 'target decryption.''' Dr. Salemme noted that ThermoFluor® is currently used in a 384-well automated workstation format, with integrated data processing and database connectivity. He noted that ThermoFluor's flexible workstation format allows its use both in central screening facilities and as a distributed capability for individual proteomics and drug discovery research groups.
ThermoFluor® was developed by a team of 3DP scientists. Inventors named in Patent No. 6,214,293 include Michael W. Pantoliano, Ph.D., Roger F. Bone, Ph.D., Alexander W. Rhind and F. Raymond Salemme, Ph.D. Inventors named in Patent No. 6,232,085 include Dr. Pantoliano, Gene C. Petrella, Ph.D., Dr. Salemme, and Barry A. Springer, Ph.D.... |
