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Investors News Press Releases 2002 Cyclacel Announces Scientific Collaboration To Accelerate Its Rational Drug Design Programmes Press Releases
Cyclacel Announces Scientific Collaboration To Accelerate Its Rational Drug Design Programmes
DUNDEE - 18 March 2002 - Cyclacel Limited, the UK-based cancer therapeutics company, announced today a significant strengthening of its rational drug design expertise with the formation of an extensive research collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. The agreement includes the exclusive licensing to Cyclacel of the University's LIDAEUS™ in silico screening software programme.
As part of the collaboration, Professor Malcolm Walkinshaw of the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology (ICMB) and Professor Nicholas Turner of the Department of Chemistry, both at the University of Edinburgh, have been exclusively seconded to Cyclacel for three years. The two distinguished academic investigators are leading a large university team of post-doctoral investigators and other senior academics that will be working on a range of Cyclacel research programmes.
Cyclacel and the University of Edinburgh will be jointly applying state-of-the-art rational drug design techniques, including computational biology, X-ray crystallography, NMR structure, computational and combinatorial chemistry, to the discovery of novel molecules.
The joint effort will be directed at Cyclacel's rich target portfolio and in particular the over 100 mitotic targets arising from the company's Polgen division in Cambridge, England. The agreement is scheduled to run for a term of three years and is subject to annual review.
The LIDAEUS™ in silico screening programme is undergoing further development at Cyclacel. Advanced proprietary versions of the software reflect Cyclacel's growing expertise in several cell cycle target classes, such as kinases and protein:protein interactions. LIDAEUS™ computer-assisted drug design complements Cyclacel's conventional screening technology. It also facilitates optimisation of lead molecules by incorporating structural biology information arising out of Cyclacel's expertise in the biology of the cell cycle.
Financial details were not disclosed. In addition to Cyclacel's substantial financial commitment to the collaboration, additional support has been received from Scottish Enterprise.
Professor Sir David Lane, Cyclacel's Chief Scientific Officer said: "Cyclacel has been working with the University of Edinburgh team for several years and has validated their approach. LIDAEUS™ is a powerful docking simulation engine that has generated hits that in turn have led to new potent pharmacophores and molecules binding to targets predicted by the software. The excellence of Cyclacel and University of Edinburgh researchers has proved to be mutually attractive, resulting in the formation of a team rivalling some of the best teams in the world in the area of rational drug design. We are excited about the possibilities this raises for the advancement of our early-stage targets."
Dr Howard Marriage, Executive Director, Business Development said: "Cyclacel's portfolio of one clinical and several preclinical stage programmes will be strongly enhanced with this collaboration. Securing access to the University of Edinburgh team, LIDAEUS™ and the associated intellectual property will allow us to advance an increasing number of early-stage programmes from targets to development molecules where robust shareholder value can be delivered. This deal is the logical next step in building a diversified drug pipeline from the large number of targets emerging out of our Polgen division."
Professors Malcolm Walkinshaw and Nicholas Turner said: "We were keen to apply our expertise at the University of Edinburgh to the industrial sector and Cyclacel's multiplicity of novel targets and strong internal science capabilities provided a unique fit. The combination of our groups' approaches using LIDAEUS™ structural biology and high throughput chemistry with Cyclacel's drug discovery and development skills holds strong promise for the discovery and ultimately clinical evaluation of new molecules. Pursuing drug discovery projects at such a concentration of talent is a very exciting prospect."
Professor Sir Stewart Sutherland, Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Edinburgh said: "Cyclacel is a leader in the Scottish biotechnology sector and a world-class player in its field. We are pleased to combine our efforts and talent with the Cyclacel team with the objective of discovering innovative new treatments."
Peter Lennox of Scottish Enterprise said: "We are delighted to support this innovative collaboration between two of Scotland's foremost academics and one of Scotland's leading emerging biotechnology companies."
