Schrödinger Announces Cryo-EM Initiative

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Schrödinger Inc, a world-leading provider of molecular simulations and drug discovery software solutions dedicated to revolutionizing drug discovery through advanced computational methods, today announced the launch of Schrödinger Cryo-EM Initiative (SCI) to develop breakthrough medicines leveraging cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) technology and Schrödinger's leading drug discovery platform.

"Cryo-EM has the potential to unveil many more protein structures amenable to our computational platform. We believe these recent advances in structural biology combined with the predictive power of Schrödinger's proven technology will enable SCI to accelerate research and development activities to discover, design, and advance next-generation therapeutics to the clinic," said Ramy Farid, Ph.D., President and CEO of Schrödinger. "We are excited to launch this initiative, and look forward to working with world-class scientists to take full advantage of this new technology."

SCI utilizes a network of Cryo-EM centers including the New York Structural Biology Center, Stanford University, and China's Tsinghua University, with anticipated expansion to include additional institutions. This diverse set of world leading centers ensures the Initiative's approach will have a broad scope across a range of drug targets, including those intractable to other methods of structural analysis.

"The New York Structural Biology Center is pleased to contribute its broad expertise in Cryo-EM to this consortium. The Simons Electron Microscopy Center at the New York Structural Biology Center houses state-of-the-art equipment and computational resources supported by a large staff of experts. Coupling Schrodinger's modeling platform with rapid new advances of Cryo-EM molecular structure determination should lead to new and exciting advances in drug discovery," said Willa Appel, Executive Director of the New York Structural Biology Center.

"This relationship unites the unique modeling capabilities of Schrödinger with the comprehensive Cryo-EM capabilities and drug discovery platforms at Tsinghua University," said Sheng Ding, Dean of School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Tsinghua University. We believe that SCI will expand the applicability of structure-based drug design by incorporating Cryo-EM in a comprehensive manner.

About Cryo-EM

Cryo-EM technology, the development of which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017, enables high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution. This promising technology evaluates biological specimens at cryogenic temperatures, enabling atomic and near-atomic resolution without the need for crystallization.

About Schrödinger
Schrödinger is a leading provider of advanced molecular simulations and enterprise software solutions and services for its clients, which include all major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide, as well as leading materials science researchers. Schrödinger also establishes deep partnerships and collaborations with companies in such fields as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and electronics, and helped found the biotech companies Nimbus Therapeutics, Morphic Therapeutic, and others. Schrödinger's investors include David E. Shaw and Bill Gates. Through significant long-term investments in basic research, Schrödinger has made scientific breakthroughs across many areas of drug discovery and materials science. Hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific publications by Schrödinger scientists are frequently among the most heavily cited in their fields. Founded in 1990, Schrödinger has over 300 employees and operations in the United States, Europe, Japan, and India, as well as business partners in China and Korea. For more information, please visit www.schrodinger.com.

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SOURCE Schrödinger