NeoGenesis and Achaogen to pursue small molecule therapeutics
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on applying novel
screening and chemistry technologies to discover and develop small molecule
drugs, recently announced they have signed a research and discovery
collaboration agreement with Achaogen, an emerging biotechnology company based
in South San Francisco, California.
Henry Skinner, Ph.D., president and CEO of NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., said, "We are very pleased to be collaborating with Achaogen, the leader
in its field, who recognizes the value brought to the drug discovery process
by NeoGenesis' technologies and scientific talents and has chosen to partner
with us."
Under the terms of this agreement, NeoGenesis will use its unique drug
discovery technologies, including its proprietary ALIS (Automated Ligand
Identification System) platform, NeoMorph compound libraries, and lead
optimization technologies to discover drug candidates against selected
targets.
"We are excited to begin work with Neogenesis," said Kevin Judice, CSO of
Achaogen. "Their ALIS technology represents a truly breakthrough approach to
screening and is completely orthogonal to standard approaches. We expect great
things from the collaboration."
Much of NeoGenesis' collaborative research has been directed toward the
identification of drug candidates for medically important, but chemically
intractable, drug targets, and NeoGenesis has achieved remarkable success in
these challenging projects. In addition, the NeoGenesis platform is capable of
identifying ligands that modulate a drug target's function through novel
binding modes, which has yielded drug candidates with novel structures,
mechanisms of action and enhanced selectivity for highly competitive 'fast-
follower' targets. The Company anticipates drug candidates from its
collaborative efforts to enter into human clinical trials in 2005 and 2006.
About NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a drug discovery company which uses
its proprietary affinity-based screening technologies and integrated chemical
library and chemistry approaches to discover and develop a portfolio of small
molecule drugs, both for itself and for its collaboration partners. The
company's widely applicable and unbiased affinity-based technologies, coupled
with its proprietary library of millions of diverse drug-like compounds,
provide an unmatched efficiency in lead discovery and optimization.
NeoGenesis' core technology, the Automated Ligand Identification System
(ALIS), is a rapid, affinity-based system for identifying and optimizing novel
drug leads that in many cases may not have been identified with traditional
screening approaches. Coupled with the company's NeoMorph compound library,
consisting of more than 5 million diverse medicinally-relevant small
molecules, ALIS enables the identification and optimization of novel and
selective drug leads against validated and emerging new targets. Founded in
1997 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, NeoGenesis has developed
partnerships and collaborative research agreements with many of the world's
leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including: AstraZeneca,
Amgen, Aventis, Biogen, Celltech, Japan Tobacco, Merck, Mitsubishi Pharma,
Pfizer, Schering-Plough and Tularik.
Note: NeoGenesis, ALIS and NeoMorph are trademarks of NeoGenesis
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
SOURCE NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.neogenesis.com
CONTACT:
Henry B. Skinner, Ph.D., President and CEO,
+1-617-588-5117, or Huw Nash, Ph.D., Vice President, External
Collaborations, +1-617-588-5119, both of NeoGenesis
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; or Agency Contact: Bill Monigle, IR/PR
Counsel for NeoGenesis, +1-603-424-1184
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