leadXpro and Astex enter partnership on membrane protein structure research
Cambridge, UK & Villigen, Switzerland, 3rd of June 2019 – leadXpro AG announced today an agreement with Astex Pharmaceuticals to facilitate structure-based drug discovery of membrane protein targets by single particle cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM).
leadXpro and Astex will work on high resolution membrane protein cryo-EM structures to enable characterization of small molecules binding to drug targets. This information may facilitate the discovery and subsequent optimization of lead molecules.
Nicolas Bocquet, project leader at leadXpro said: “With the recent developments and improvements of this technology, we’re confident of the utility of cryo-EM derived structural information in small molecule drug design projects on targets which were previously not accessible to X-ray crystallography.”
Pamela Williams, project leader at Astex said: “X-ray crystallography has always been the cornerstone of Astex’ drug discovery platform starting from fragment molecules to clinical candidates. We hope that Cryo-EM will complement our efforts in structure-based lead discovery and extend the target space to include membrane proteins.”
About Astex Pharmaceuticals Limited
Astex is a leader in innovative drug discovery and development, committed to the fight against cancer and diseases of the central nervous system. Astex is developing a proprietary pipeline of novel therapies and has a number of partnered products being developed under collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies. In October 2013 Astex became a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. Otsuka Pharmaceutical is a global healthcare company with the corporate philosophy: “Otsuka – people creating new products for better health worldwide.” Otsuka researches, develops, manufactures and markets innovative and original products, with a focus on pharmaceutical products for the treatment of diseases and nutraceutical products for the maintenance of everyday health. For more information about Astex Pharmaceuticals, please visit http://www.astx.com
About leadXpro AG
leadXpro is a drug discovery company focusing on membrane protein targets such as GPCR’s, ion-channels and transporters. We are committed to the application of biophysical and structure-based methods for the discovery and optimization of next generation lead compounds with unmet efficacy and specificity. leadXpro’s technology platform capitalizes on the expert knowledge regarding membrane protein biochemistry and close collaboration with academic facilities of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) for synchrotron (SLS), X-ray Free Electron Laser (SwissFEL) and the University of Basel (C-CINA) for single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). For more information, please visit www.leadxpro.com