CHICAGO, April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- MediChem Life Sciences (Nasdaq: MCLS - news), a Chicago-based drug discovery technology and services company, signed an agreement with the Signal Research Division of Celgene Corporation for the structure determination of a Celgene proprietary drug lead bound to a kinase drug target that regulates certain disease-causing genes, the company announced today. The drug target has been shown to play an important role in central nervous system (CNS) diseases and disorders.
MediChem scientists, at the company's Emerald BioStructures subsidiary, will obtain the kinase protein from Celgene and test conditions for binding Celgene's small molecule drug lead to the target protein. They will then co-crystallize the protein with the small molecule compound bound to it.
``This collaboration is a perfect example of the power of structural proteomics and the exciting things that we can now take on at MediChem,'' said Michael T. Flavin, Ph.D., president and CEO of MediChem. ``Our cutting edge technologies and services in structural proteomics allow us to help our clients develop important drugs that fight devastating diseases -- affecting millions of people worldwide.''
When the co-crystallization is completed, MediChem will utilize Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source (APS) to collect the data necessary to solve the protein's structure at near-atomic resolution. This will provide Celgene researchers with a detailed three-dimensional picture of the small molecule compound bound to the target protein. This structural information will then be used to further optimize the pharmaceutical properties of Celgene's CNS drug leads.
MediChem has a proprietary user agreement with Argonne National Laboratory's APS. The agreement gives MediChem scientists access to Argonne's powerful X-ray beam to collect proprietary X-ray diffraction data for its clients' projects. MediChem scientists translate the X-ray diffraction patterns into a high resolution rendering of the three-dimensional structure of its clients' target proteins.
Access to the APS reduces the time needed to determine a protein's three-dimensional structure and therefore can accelerate the drug candidate identification process. Determining the structure of a protein, once crystallized, used to take months or years; it may now take only a fraction of this time using MediChem's resources. Solving a protein's structure improves scientists' ability to optimize small molecule drugs that are directed toward the specific target, with the goal of developing safer and more effective drugs to treat disease.
MediChem may receive a bonus payment under terms of the agreement with Celgene, based on early completion of specified project goals.
``Having a three-dimensional picture of a drug lead interacting with a target protein at the molecular level makes it much easier to develop enhanced versions of the drug,'' said Flavin. ``Using MediChem's structural proteomics technology platform will help Celgene more thoroughly understand the complex characteristics of their protein target, and their drug leads.''
``Celgene has been successful in identifying small molecule inhibitors of a clinically important and proprietary kinase drug target that regulates key disease-causing genes in the brain. MediChem's structural proteomics expertise will significantly enhance our ability to optimize these drug leads and develop new classes of drugs targeting some of the most challenging CNS diseases and disorders,'' commented Alan Lewis, Ph.D., president of Celgene's Signal Research Division... |
