The Genetics Company: Issuance of European Patents covering fundamental technologies in computational chemistry.

04-Sep-2006

The Genetics Company, Inc. announced the issuance of European patents EP 1'410'245 and EP 1'388'009 covering PHATS and Surf2Lead, two fundamental technologies in computational chemistry. Computational chemistry enables and supports in silico the identification and optimization of biologically active small chemical molecules, while substantially reducing the need for classical highthroughput screening.

The discovery of small molecule modulators of a drug target via in vitro screening is a tedious and costly endeavor requiring libraries of thousands to millions of chemical compounds, robust biological assays, sophisticated equipment, expensive reagents and a complex logistics. With the increasing knowledge about the three-dimensional structure of proteins, however, the computer-aided modeling of e.g. enzyme-substrate interactions has become possible and allows for the detailed virtual analysis of the corresponding binding modes as well as the rapid and cost-effective in silico screening of millions of chemical compounds for potential modulators of such interactions.

The Genetics Company has developed Surf2Lead and PHATS for in silico screening. According to the company, by analysis and conversion of the key characteristics of protein surfaces into pharmacophoric features, Surf2Lead is especially useful for the identification of novel hits, whereas PHATS enables the fast identification of compounds with similar characteristics and therefore supports the lead optimization process. The patents describe the corresponding methods and principles.

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