Date: 2013-06-12
Type of information: Collaboration agreement
Compound: peptide-based medicines
Company: Zealand Pharma (Denmark) D. E. Shaw Research (USA)
Therapeutic area: Cardiovascular diseases - Metabolic diseases
Type agreement: collaboration
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: * On June 12, 2013, Zealand Pharma, a Danish biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel peptide drugs, has entered into a strategic research collaboration with D. E. Shaw Research, LLC, a computational biochemistry company based in the U.S. (New York, NY). The aim of the collaboration is to pair D. E. Shaw Research’s state-of-the-art capabilities for conducting long-timescale molecular dynamics simulations with Zealand’s established in-house expertise in peptide drug innovation and development. This novel rational approach to peptide drug design is intended to establish a new basis for the development of peptide-based medicines with improved selectivity, potency, and efficacy.
Under the agreement, Zealand and D.E. Shaw Research will collaborate in a pilot phase to utilize D. E. Shaw Research’s computer-based simulation technology and modeling expertise for elucidating peptide-receptor interactions and peptide movements which lead to selective receptor activation. Zealand and D.E. Shaw Research have agreed on an undisclosed receptor target of therapeutic relevance in the field of cardio-metabolic diseases. The companies will jointly select several peptides, including natural ligands, reference compounds, and compounds designed by Zealand, for in-depth study. Zealand will generate affinity and efficacy data for these ligands, and D. E. Shaw Research will use their state-of-the-art computational methods to explore likely binding modes of these molecules on the selected target.
The objective during the pilot phase is to establish evidence for the synergistic value of combining computational simulations with rational design and experimental screening as a general new approach to be applied to the design of peptide drugs.
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