TCS cooperates with Italian Congenia

First IT services company to deliver molecules not code

08-Aug-2005

Tata Consultancy services (TCS), a leading global technology services company, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Congenia, a biotechnology start-up promoted by Italy's Genextra SpA group to provide advanced fragment-based lead optimization solutions for drug discovery. The agreement is the first of its kind for an IT company. The Life Sciences R&D Division of TCS will work on "P66" - a target protein identified by Congenia as a key protein involved in several age-related diseases - and will develop optimized drug leads based on this.

TCS will be using modules of its own product "Bio-Suite" to work on the target protein. It will screen a "virtual fragment library" of tens of thousands of potential lead molecules to predict which of these might bind themselves to the target protein and therebv inhibit its function. TCS will also produce a first-cut analysis of the ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity) profile of the lead molecules.

The optimized lead molecules produced by TCS will be further developed by Congenia through animal trials and eventually human clinical trials. The work will be executed in the Advanced Technology Centre of TCS, located in the Southern Indian city of Hyderabad, where the bulk of TCS' life sciences R&D activities are located.

A part of the wet chemistry and crystallography work will be carried out by TCS' sub-contractor, Altiora Ventures in Israel. The biological assays will be carried out by Congenia in Milan, Italy. The contract has a duration of 18 months, and incorporates payments based on the number of optimized lead molecules delivered.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/48126/tcs-cooperates-with-italian-congenia.html