European ScreeningPort receives funding for IMI Call4 – Understanding and optimising binding kinetics in drug discovery
European ScreeningPort is consortium partner in the Kinetics for Drug Discovery (K4DD) IMI project
Hamburg, Dec. 06th, 2012 – European ScreeningPort is pleased to announce that it is partner of an international consortium that has received confirmation of an over 20 million EURO grant award from the Innovative Medicine Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI-JU). The programme "Kinetics for Drug Discovery – K4DD" involves 20 partners, (Pharmaceutical companies, universities, research institutes and SMEs) and is coordinated by Bayer Healthcare and the University of Leiden. The consortium will analyse molecular aspects of drug binding kinetics with the aim to reduce high attrition rates in drug discovery and development.
There is mounting evidence that the often ignored kinetic aspects of the interactions between a drug ligand and its target are highly relevant for clinical success. Lack of information of key kinetic parameters may be one of the reasons for the unacceptable attrition rates in drug discovery. K4DD aims at converting knowledge of binding kinetics into data-driven guidelines and easily accessible assay tools and technologies for future drug discovery. European ScreeningPort is working across all three scientific workpackages of the project, that aim to i) increase the molecular understanding of drug target interactions, ii) develop novel assays and technologies for screening approaches and iii) to develop predictive modeling approaches for the translation of the gained knowledge into In vivo models.
"We are very proud to be a member of this consortium and are looking forward to working in close collaboration with our partners. Effective partnerships between academia and the Pharmaceutical Industry are the right forum to cover this challenging pre-competitive scientific challenge. We are very keen on bringing in our expertise in developing novel and innovative assays to analyze molecular aspects of drug binding kinetics, and thus providing data-driven guidelines to help develop improved molecules which will further developed to become the medicines of the future", states Dr. Philip Gribbon, CSO/COO of European ScreeningPort GmbH.
About European ScreeningPort GmbH
European ScreeningPort, based in Hamburg, Germany is a public-private partnership, offering contract research services to academic institutes and universities across Europe. The company performs bioassay development and validation, primary screening of small molecules, high content screening for secondary and selectivity assays, bioinformatics and virtual screening for academic partners.
The research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n° 115366, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies' in kind contribution (www.imi.europa.eu).
Contact:
Dr. Mira Grättinger phone: +49 40 56081 470
European ScreeningPort GmbH fax: +49 40 56081 453
Schnackenburgallee 114 email: [email protected]
D-22525 Hamburg web: www.screeningport.com
K4DD