|
Prous Institute for Biomedical Research today presented its strategies for drug discovery on its newly designed website. A large computational project with basic research support and broad disease coverage is being developed at Prous Institute under the broad-based Epistemic Drug Discovery® project.
President and C.E.O. of the Institute, Dr. J.R. Prous, explained that “We are committed to accelerating biomedical knowledge by the synchronization of powerful expert knowledge-based systems and basic research. This next-generation drug R&D force is expected to increase the efficiency and efficacy of core drug R&D processes, facilitating continuous innovation”.
Based on structure-activity relationships, a series of computational programs (BioEpisteme® and BioMFIS®) are being developed by the Institute to predict potential mechanisms of action, therapeutic activities, toxicities, ADME profiles, drug interactions and the role in cellular processes of small molecular entities. These predictive models are integrated in an in silico Drug Discovery System (i-DDS) which orbits the unlimited chemical and biological spaces (PSMEL® and Conveyor®, respectively), indentifying dynamic interplays which, through experimentation, lead to potential therapeutic candidates.
Two main drug discovery programs are being developed at the Institute. One is focused on the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new small-molecule modulators of autophagy as therapeutic agents for cancer and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease). Another program looks at target-driven drug discovery from natural sources, covering type 2 diabetes, psychological stress and asthma. The Institute’s computational tools enable the in silico screening of thousands of natural products in a rapid, reliable and cost-effective manner, as well as the discovery of new targets and new uses for existing drugs.
J.R. Prous commented “our approach is bringing us closer to drug discovery, and the Institute expects to have several compounds in preclinical evaluation by the end of this year (2009)”.
About Prous Institute for Biomedical Research
Prous Institute is a research-driven organization committed to discovering and developing innovative therapies by synchronizing powerful computational tools and basic research. The Institute is looking to establish offices in Boston, Tokyo and Shanghai and expects to collaborate with regulatory agencies, academia and industry.
|