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Drug Discovery Automation Redefines Compound Management Caitlin Smith The advent of high-throughput screening (HTS) and robotic automation also saw an evolution in compound-manage- ment tools. New technologies, as well as steady in- creases in available compounds, have made organizing and managing the libraries of chemicals, compounds, and other reagents used by research labs a major challenge. More than ever before, labs are incorporat- ing automated solutions for liquid handling, compound retrieval, and sample barcoding, for example. "Whether it is preparing millions of com- pounds for screening, or a few for lead op- timization, compound management is now heavily reliant on automation that is directly connected to inventory management software for quick and accurate delivery of requested compounds," said Dan Hascall, senior scien- tific manager at Genentech (www.gene.com). What are the effects of new, automated, and faster technologies on compound man- agement? Do labs need them, and are they helping? Last month in Boston, several ex- perts spoke about innovative compound- management practices at the IQPC conference on "Compound Management and Integrity". Their insights hold promise for those trying to understand the issues and possible solutions in compound management today. Software Holds It All Together Recently, a group from the University of Michigan developed a new, secure, web-based open-source application called MScreen, that is designed to organize and run HTS and compound management. Described in an application note in this month's issue of the Journal of Biomolecular Screening, MScreen is free to academic and nonprofit institutions, and available by license for industry. Though its main focus is HTS, it also facilitates compound management, gov- erning standard tasks such as debiting vol- umes while loading screening plates, for NEWS Discovery & Development > Phase I Anti-Obesity Candidate Dropped on Safety Grounds Palatin's obesity and diabetes drug program partner AstraZeneca has de- cided to drop further development of one of the partnered anti-obesity can- didates, AZD2820, after a patient in- volved in a Phase I clinical trial with the peptide melanocortin-4 receptor partial agonist suffered a serious adverse event. Palatin says AstraZeneca's investigation couldn't exclude the possibility that the serious adverse event was linked to AZD2820, but concluded it was unlikely that it was related to melanocortin re- ceptor activation. The firm maintains AstraZeneca has reiterated its continued commitment to the collaboration, which includes mul- tiple classes of compounds at various stages of preclinical testing. AstraZeneca and Palatin inked their exclusive research collaboration and license agreement centered on melanocortin receptor-tar- geting compounds for treating obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome back in 2007. > Partnership Looks to Epigenetic Target for Blood Cancer Therapy Astex Pharmaceuticals is teaming up with the U.K. 's Cancer Research Technol- ogy (CRT), and the Institute of Cancer Re- search (ICR) for a collaboration focused on the discovery and development of drug candidates against a specified epi- genetic target for blood cancer. The part- nership will marry Astex' fragment-based drug discovery platform and epigenetic drug development capabilities with ICR's expertise in blood cancer biology, and the drug discovery capabilities of the Cancer Research U.K. Cancer Therapeu- tics Unit at the ICR. > Dual-Antibody Anticancer Candi- date Gets $25M Boost Merck KGaA is paying Symphogen €20 million (about $25 million) up front for an exclusive worldwide license to develop the latter's anticancer candidate Sym004, an antibody mixture targeting EGFR. Un- der terms of the licensing deal Sympho- gen could receive up to another €225 million (roughly $283 million) in clinical development and regulatory milestones, plus €250 million (about $314 million) in potential sales performance milestone payments and royalties. Sym004 is currently undergoing a Phase I/II-stage trial as a treatment for advanced KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal can- cer (mCRC) in patients with disease that has progressed following treatment with chemotherapy and a marketed anti-EGFR antibody. An open-label Phase II study in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) who have failed anti-EGFR-based therapy is also ongoing. > Firms Ink CDx Antibody Imaging Deal ImaginAb and MacroGenics inked a collaboration and commercialization agreement with MacroGenics focused on the development of an anti-CD3 clinical imaging product, and companion imag- ing agents for B7-H3, an immune regula- tory target against which MacroGenics is developing therapeutics. Under terms of the deal ImaginAb will develop a strategy for clinical imaging 20 | October 1, 2012 | genengnews.com | Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News based on MacroGenics' anti-CD3 anti- body, which the latter can use to select patients for ongoing clinical trials, and engineer a CD3 binding fragment for routine clinical imaging. The firm will in addition develop imaging reagents for its partner's anti-B7-H3 therapeutic product candidate MGA271, and related applica- tions for its CD3-based redirected T cell- killing Dart™ (Dual-affinity retargeting) anticancer programs. > BioLineRx Nabs Phase II-Ready AML Candidate BioLineRx negotiated an exclusive worldwide license to Biokine Therapeu- tics' Phase II-ready peptide therapeutic BL- 8040 (formerly BKT-140) for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and oth- er hematologic cancers. The candidate is a short peptide that acts as a high-affinity CXCR4 chemokine receptor antagonist. The licensing terms don't include an up-front fee, but BioLineRx will have to pay Biokine $50,000 to $100,000 a month for certain development services the lat- ter has committed to provide. Q Scientists at Scripps Florida use the Nova, a fully automated weighing system from Innovate Engineering.