Zenobia Therapeutics, Inc. Announces Sale of Commercial Fragment Library Ideal for Crystallographic, NMR and SPR Screening

LA JOLLA, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Zenobia Therapeutics, Inc. (Zenobia) the leader in fragment-based lead discovery (FBLD) for CNS diseases, announced today that they are adding a 352 compound fragment library to their product offerings. The library is ready for screening by X-ray, NMR, and SPR methods, contains soluble, verified protein binders, is shape and functionally diverse, and has an average molecular weight of 155 Da. The compounds are pre-plated and will initially cost ~ $11/compound. The library was constructed by Zenobia's team of seasoned FBLD professionals with over 25 years combined experience. Vicki Nienaber, Ph.D., President, CSO and founder of Zenobia, reported the first fragment-based crystallographic screening method in 2000.

"Over the past decade, FBLD has become a successful drug discovery method that has produced many NCEs and clinical candidates. We want FBLD to continue to positively impact drug discovery and are now providing a solid, simple starting point for fragment-based screening campaigns," said Dr. Nienaber. "A great deal of the chemical space of drug-like molecules can be covered by a well chosen set of small fragment compounds. This efficient library design will provide researchers with a lot of information on target site binding within a small number of experiments," said John Badger, Ph.D., Director of Structural Biology. The library has been examined by Dr. Ruo Steensma, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry for Zenobia Therapeutics. Dr. Steensma took forward two programs to IND using FBLD during her tenure as Director of Medicinal Chemistry at SGX Pharmaceuticals. "This is a perfect starting point for scientists interested in FBLD. The compounds are simple and ideally suited as starting points for further analoging. We look forward to working with fellow scientists who are interested in getting quality leads through this approach," said Dr. Steensma. Co-founder of Zenobia, Robert Meadows, Ph.D., a co-inventor of the SAR by NMR method who has designed multiple fragment libraries for the NMR screening method says, "Zenobia's library is a small, cherry picked selection of diverse chemotypes and shapes. And, since the compounds are all very soluble, screening with different methods is straightforward. Most importantly, once you find a hit with this library, developing the SAR is fast and economical." Through consulting or collaborations, Zenobia offers its expertise in advancing SAR around fragment hits.

About Zenobia

Zenobia provides a commercial fragment library, and access to their structural biology, crystallography and fragment-based lead discovery expertise through partnerships, consulting and collaborations. Zenobia's internal programs combine fragment-based lead discovery with the expertise of biologists and clinicians to find treatments for devastating illnesses for which there is no disease altering treatment such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.

For additional information on Zenobia Therapeutics, Inc., contact Dr. Vicki Nienaber at vicki@zenobiatherapeutics.com or visit www.zenobiatherapeutics.com. For additional information on Zenobia's fragment library, contact Dr. John Badger at john@zenobiatherapeutics.com.

CONTACT: Vicki Nienaber of Zenobia Therapeutics, +1-858-926-5780,
vicki@zenobiatherapeutics.com

Web site: http://www.zenobiatherapeutics.com/