The collaboration will combine D. E. Shaw Research’s state-of-the-art computational capabilities with Zealand’s broad-based discovery and development competencies to form a potential new basis for the development of better peptide drugs
COPENHAGEN, Denmark I June 12, 2013 I Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: ZEAL) (“Zealand”), 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.
Commenting on the prospects of collaboration, David H. Solomon, President and CEO of Zealand, said: “We are very pleased to announce the collaboration with D. E. Shaw Research, a research company with unique and groundbreaking computational capabilities. The agreement is an embodiment of our strategy to apply a partner-focused approach in our continued efforts to push the boundaries for designing peptide drugs and expand their therapeutic use.” He added, “Via access to D. E. Shaw Research’s computational biochemistry capabilities, we will gain valuable novel insight into receptor-peptide interactions and if the pilot phase of the collaboration proves successful, this new approach has the potential of adding additional therapeutic and commercial upside to a range of Zealand’s ongoing drug discovery projects.”
About Zealand
Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: ZEAL) (“Zealand”) is a biotechnology company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Zealand specializes in the discovery, optimization and development of novel peptide drugs and has a broad and mature pipeline of drug candidates identified through its own drug discovery activities. The company’s focus lies in the field of diabetes/metabolic diseases, and its lead drug invention is lixisenatide, a once-daily GLP-1 agonist, which is licensed to Sanofi for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Lixisenatide is approved in Europe (February 2013) under the name of Lyxumia®, and under regulatory review in a large number of other countries globally, including in the US (NDA filed in Dec 2012) and Japan (NDA filed in June 2012).
Zealand has a partnering strategy for the development and commercialization of its products and in addition to the collaboration with Sanofi in Type 2 diabetes, the company has partnerships with Boehringer Ingelheim in diabetes/obesity, Helsinn Healthcare in chemotherapy induced diarrhea and AbbVie in acute kidney injury. For further information: www.zealandpharma.com
About D. E. Shaw Research
D. E. Shaw Research is a technology-based company engaged in the development of novel algorithms and machine architectures for high-speed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and in the use of such technologies to elucidate the structural and dynamic properties of pharmaceutically relevant biomolecules. The company has designed and constructed a specialized supercomputer that performs MD simulations orders of magnitude faster than was previously possible, thus expanding the potential applicability of MD to the process of drug design.
SOURCE: Zealand Pharma
Post Views: 165
The collaboration will combine D. E. Shaw Research’s state-of-the-art computational capabilities with Zealand’s broad-based discovery and development competencies to form a potential new basis for the development of better peptide drugs
COPENHAGEN, Denmark I June 12, 2013 I Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: ZEAL) (“Zealand”), 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.
Commenting on the prospects of collaboration, David H. Solomon, President and CEO of Zealand, said: “We are very pleased to announce the collaboration with D. E. Shaw Research, a research company with unique and groundbreaking computational capabilities. The agreement is an embodiment of our strategy to apply a partner-focused approach in our continued efforts to push the boundaries for designing peptide drugs and expand their therapeutic use.” He added, “Via access to D. E. Shaw Research’s computational biochemistry capabilities, we will gain valuable novel insight into receptor-peptide interactions and if the pilot phase of the collaboration proves successful, this new approach has the potential of adding additional therapeutic and commercial upside to a range of Zealand’s ongoing drug discovery projects.”
About Zealand
Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: ZEAL) (“Zealand”) is a biotechnology company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Zealand specializes in the discovery, optimization and development of novel peptide drugs and has a broad and mature pipeline of drug candidates identified through its own drug discovery activities. The company’s focus lies in the field of diabetes/metabolic diseases, and its lead drug invention is lixisenatide, a once-daily GLP-1 agonist, which is licensed to Sanofi for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Lixisenatide is approved in Europe (February 2013) under the name of Lyxumia®, and under regulatory review in a large number of other countries globally, including in the US (NDA filed in Dec 2012) and Japan (NDA filed in June 2012).
Zealand has a partnering strategy for the development and commercialization of its products and in addition to the collaboration with Sanofi in Type 2 diabetes, the company has partnerships with Boehringer Ingelheim in diabetes/obesity, Helsinn Healthcare in chemotherapy induced diarrhea and AbbVie in acute kidney injury. For further information: www.zealandpharma.com
About D. E. Shaw Research
D. E. Shaw Research is a technology-based company engaged in the development of novel algorithms and machine architectures for high-speed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and in the use of such technologies to elucidate the structural and dynamic properties of pharmaceutically relevant biomolecules. The company has designed and constructed a specialized supercomputer that performs MD simulations orders of magnitude faster than was previously possible, thus expanding the potential applicability of MD to the process of drug design.
SOURCE: Zealand Pharma
Post Views: 165
