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DAC (Genextra) Selects Evotec as Strategic Partner for a Drug Discovery Collaboration on the HSP90 Cancer Target and In-licences Compound Intellectual Property Identified using Evotec's Proprietary Fragment Screening Platform
DAC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Genextra SPA) chose Evotec as a strategic partner to identify small molecule therapeutics in a pharmaceutical discovery project on the HSP90 target, a key protein involved in a variety of oncogenic pathways in several cancer related diseases.
Using its proprietary fragment screening platform (High Throughput Fragment Screening, HTFS), Evotec identified novel fragments that interact with the HSP90 target from Evotec's five thousand member fragment library. Active fragments were further characterised by co-crystallisation with the target protein. The X-ray crystal structures of the protein-ligand complexes identified a variety of binding modes some of which will give rise to novel approaches for inhibiting HSP90. Following due diligence DAC has decided to collaborate with Evotec with the aim of improving the potency and selectivity of the identified compounds. In the collaboration, which may run for an initial period of over 2 years, Evotec will use its medicinal chemistry, profiling and ADMET expertise to generate lead molecules for further progression into clinical trials.
"This project is an important extension of our lead discovery activities. From existing collaborations with Evotec, we remained positively impressed by Evotec's medicinal chemistry capabilities and this, together with the results that Evotec had already generated against this disease target, convinced us to collaborate on this exciting project."
Mr Paolo Fundarò, Chief Executive Officer, Genextra