Drug Discovery Alliance Based on Cheminformatics

A drug discovery research agreement is designed to exploit the resources inherent in the new field of cheminformatics to focus and guide drug development.

Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH, USA) will fund a research program at Inpharmatica Ltd. (London, UK) to develop robust computational structure models and identify chemotypes for families of human G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). These are transmembrane proteins that wind seven times back and forth through the plasma membrane. Their ligand-binding site is exposed outside the surface of the cell while their effector site extends into the cytosol.

Inpharmatica will bring its trademarked PharmaCarta technology to the partnership. PharmaCarta is a large-scale discovery informatics platform that enables the simultaneous exploration of bioinformatics, chemogenomics, disease indication, and pharmacology. By linking the small molecule, target, and disease domains, this technology provides a general and systematic approach to target prioritization and subsequent drug discovery.

Dr. Joseph Gardner, director of chemistry and discovery technologies at Proctor and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, said, "We are always looking for ways to increase productivity in drug discovery, and collaboration with Inpharmatica will move us toward that goal. PharmaCarta and Inpharmatica's know-how in the field of cheminformatics will make a significant contribution to our drug discovery. We expect our joint efforts to bring benefits to both sides.”




Related Links:
Inpharmatica Ltd.
Proctor and Gamble Pharmaceuticals