BRANFORD, Conn., Aug. 15, 2002 - Cellular
genomics Inc. (CGI), today announced the opening of its facility for small molecule
drug discovery at the Company's headquarters in Branford Connecticut. The 9,000 square foot facility will provide the Company with state-of-the-art capabilities in medicinal and high-speed analog
chemistry, high throughput screening, cheminformatics, and structure-based
drug design. This expansion complements the Company's existing 14,000 square foot facility and will enable the full integration of CGI's capabilities in target discovery,
validation, screening and
drug development.
"From CGI's inception, we have been committed to leveraging our proprietary chemical genetic technology platforms for drug discovery and development," said Louis Matis, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of CGI. "The completion of this facility will significantly enhance our ongoing drug discovery programs, and represents an important milestone toward the realization of this goal."
CGI has implemented a uniquely integrated platform for target-based drug discovery, encompassing high content drug screens for lead optimization, detailed cell pathway analysis, and rigorous functional
target validation. This comprehensive approach is designed to accelerate and enhance the drug discovery and development process, and provide safer, more effective therapeutics for a wide range of major clinical indications. CGI's proprietary drug discovery capabilities are currently focused on
protein kinases, an important class of drug targets representing as much as 2% of the
human genome. CGI has ongoing drug discovery and development programs against selected protein kinases for major cancer and autoimmune/
inflammatory disease indications.