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Technologies
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Technologies are an integral part of Research and Development. Departments such as Biotherapeutics and Integrative Biology, Drug Discovery Support and Medicinal Chemistry play a pivotal role in the progression of drug candidates to novel therapies.
Biotherapeutics and Integrative Biology
New Chemical Entities (NCE)/ New Biological Entities (NBE) project support:
The first step in the drug discovery process is to identify a protein target involved in a disease. The Biotherapeutics and Integrative Biology department has the responsibility for the production of target proteins for research purposes. The proteins made by this group are supplied to all areas of the drug discovery process. The department also utilizes state-of-the-art technology for studying biomolecular interactions. Expertise in physical, biological, analytical, and mathematical sciences are applied toward studies for potential new drug candidates. The kinetic, thermodynamic and equilibrium binding properties of drug candidates with their protein targets, as well as their structural effects, are studied to understand target compound interactions.
Electronic Biology:
The genomics revolution; such as the sequencing of the human genome, and other high throughput approaches, have led to a dramatic increase in the amount of biological/chemical information available for researcher’s use. Accessing, visualization, and analysis of these computer data that lead to understanding of disease biology has been a major task for the Electronic Biology (eBiology) group within the Biotherapeutics and Integrative Biology Department. Novel approaches that utilize computational workflows are coupled with biology in order to drive our knowledge of disease and how it can be alleviated using new and exciting therapies.
Drug Discovery Support
The goal of the Drug Discovery Support (DDS) department is to continually improve the quality of drug candidates that move from Discovery into Development. To achieve this goal, the department focuses in three main areas: Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics (DMPK), Pharmaceutics and General Pharmacology. As a highly motivated, diverse team of professionals, DDS relies heavily on close interactions between our respective groups, with the Discovery project teams and with all departments to ensure that the highest quality compounds move forward into Development.
Medicinal Chemistry
The Medicinal Chemistry department is responsible for discovering and optimizing small molecules for the treatment of cardiovascular and immunological/inflammatory diseases. Candidate molecules are discovered in the biomolecular screening group, which performs biochemical assays. Lead optimization and identification groups optimize the molecules into potential drug candidates for human therapy. The process is aided by the structural research group which utilizes state of the art technologies to support lead optimization and lead identification programs.