December 8, 2014 / B3C newswire / - Today ZoBio (Leiden, The Netherlands) and Domainex Ltd. (Cambridge, UK) announce a collaboration with FORMA Therapeutics (Watertown, MA, USA) to provide NMR-based structural biology services for a substantial panel of FORMA drug targets.
The goal of the collaboration is to use ZoBio’s expertise in protein nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to elucidate the molecular basis for compound-target interaction, to complement ongoing X-ray crystallography approaches. NMR is currently the only alternative to crystallography capable of elucidating atomic resolution, 3D structural information. Under the agreement, ZoBio will design and express protein variants suitable for structural studies, to support FORMA’s oncology drug discovery research.
In addition, Domainex will apply its Combinatorial Domain Hunting technology to generate suitable protein variants for a selection of particularly challenging targets, not previously amenable to structural studies. Successful targets from the joint ZoBio/Domainex effort will be used for subsequent NMR structural biology studies.
Gregg Siegal, CEO of ZoBio said “We are proud that FORMA, a company with tremendous success in broadly exploring the druggability of target families, has selected ZoBio as a partner. We are excited to provide structural insight where it has not previously been possible.”
Eddy Littler, CEO of Domainex said “We are excited to be working alongside ZoBio to support FORMA in its pursuit of novel cancer drugs. ZoBio and Domainex’s combined technology offering enables previously intractable, but hugely promising drug targets to be tackled; paving the way to a raft of potential new and efficacious oncology drugs.”
About ZoBio
ZoBio uses fragment-based drug discovery to provide validated, biologically active compounds against challenging drug targets. Screening of our or a client’s library can be accomplished using our proprietary Target Immobilized NMR Screening (TINS) platform and/or high-throughput SPR using our Biacore 4000. We then integrate industry standard Biacore and unique, novel biophysical approaches and biochemical assays with our NMR Pyramid technology to validate ligands and provide structural insight into their interaction with the target. ZoBio is dedicated to providing its clients the best science and compounds in a manner that fits within their workflow.
About Domainex
Domainex is a drug discovery company that provides integrated drug discovery services, including computational and medicinal chemistry, DMPK testing, biochemical and cell-based assay development, to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across the world. It is focussed on efficiency in drug discovery, typically managing to cut programme duration by 30% through use of its proprietary technology platform, Combinatorial Domain Hunting, and a focussed approach to compound design.
Domainex is based on the Cambridge Science Park, England and has offices in the London Bioscience Innovation Centre.
About Forma Therapeutics
FORMA Therapeutics’ scientists are passionate about discovering and developing medicines that will make a difference in oncology and other genetically driven therapeutic areas. The company’s drug discovery engine drives screening and structure-based approaches across broad families of targets involved in tumor metabolism, epigenetics, protein homeostasis and protein-protein interactions. Deep biological insight across targets is combined with the company’s chemistry expertise and integrated with a world class network of academic investigators, clinical experts and corporate partners to rapidly direct the creation of high quality, innovative drug candidates.
FORMA is headquartered in Watertown, MA near the epicenter of the Cambridge Life Sciences cluster, with additional chemistry operations in Branford, CT. Join our conversation on Twitter @FORMAInc.
Contacts
ZoBio BV
Gregg Siegal
Chief Scientific Officer
Tel: +31 71 527 4543
gsiegal@zobio.com
www.zobio.com
Domainex
Joanne McCudden
Head of Business Development
Joanne.mccudden@domainex.co.uk
Tel +44 (0)7775 437107
Media Relations (Domainex)
Sylvie Berrebi
sylvie@sciad.com
M: +44 (0)7795 197271
Deborah Cockerill
deborah@sciad.com
M: +44 (0)7930 317729
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