PRECOS Launches Premium Bespoke Collection of Clinically Relevant Lung In Oncology Models for Drug Discovery at AACR Annual Meeting 2012

NOTTINGHAM, UK (2 April 2012) – Preclinical Oncology Services Limited (PRECOS), a leading pre-clinical research and development service provider with a specific focus on oncology, today launches its Lung In ONcology model atlas (LION) at the AACR Annual meeting (Chicago, March 31^st – April 4^th 2012, booth #4306). LION provides a premium bespoke collection of clinically relevant and validated lung oncology models for in vitro and in vivo drug discovery screening. The models are of interest to leading pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies looking to deliver significantly higher research productivity for their portfolio of therapeutic targets.

In collaboration with world-renowned experts, PRECOS is able to provide a unique collection of models from target identification to clinically relevant drug candidates to support effective drug discovery for lung cancers. LION is part of the PRECOS PREdict platform for target discovery, a service that provides unique panels of patient-derived in vitro and in vivo models characterised, validated and ready to run in studies.

By utilising the pharmacological audit trail (PhAT) to provide a rational framework for assessing the risk profile of a new agent,  LION enables the collection of predictive lung models to match each step of the decision making process. LION provides detailed pharmacological mapping of clinically relevant lung models using a proprietary 3D tumour growth assay (TGA). The novel compounds in 3D TGAs are assessed against multiple standards of care and in combination therapies to develop a unique “map” of the lead therapeutic against the landscape of existing treatments.

Treatment decisions have traditionally been empiric and based upon tumour histology. Platinum-based chemotherapy remains the cornerstone of treatment but survival rates remain low. As understanding develops with a continued expansion of the number of molecular compared to conventional therapies, PRECOS is able to provide further advanced and predictive in vitro and in vivo models. The LION collection provides relevant, reproducible in vivo models to support pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis of novel therapeutics and appropriate efficacy studies, including combination studies. Advanced orthotropic and bioluminescent models as well as unique models of resistance enable a comprehensive analysis of potential opportunities for novel therapeutics.

“PRECOS continues to develop deeper, clinically relevant screening methods relevant to the models we hold, to produce a greater understanding of the disease state,” said Dr Martin Page, scientific consultant, PRECOS. “Changes in gene expression and mutational status, allow a greater insight into the relevance of each lung model. Our panels are designed to help our clients address their key needs and challenges by providing cutting-edge clinically relevant models that are ready to run.”

To find out more about LION and other PRECOS’ service offerings at the AACR Annual Meeting, please visit booth #4306. Dr Martin Page, scientific consultant, will be on hand to discuss your strategic needs. Alternatively please call +44 0870 166 6234, e-mail enquires@precos.co.uk or visit www.precos.co.uk to request further information.

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About PRECOS Ltd

PRECOS Ltd. is a flexible pre-clinical research and development service with a specific focus on oncology, with an established track record in providing expert support to direct cancer drug development projects from concept to clinic. PRECOS evaluates the innovative cancer medicines of the future in patient-relevant models to ensure that pre-clinical efficacy assessment is predictive of how the drug is likely to behave in clinical trials with cancer patients. The PRECOS team of expert scientists assist in the selection and execution of appropriate analytical systems by a staged approach of in vitro studies, in vivo model development, subsequent in vivo mechanistic and therapeutic evaluations and post-study analyses, all conveyed with added value through specialist scientific interpretation of the data. PRECOS scientists apply cutting-edge technology and ideas to individual research programmes and delivers a flexible, tailored approach to all research objectives, whether a one-off service or a complete research programme.

PRECOS, an acronym of Pre-Clinical Oncology Services, was officially launched as a specialist business unit of the University of Nottingham (UK) in 2004. PRECOS evolved from the research expertise of the Division of Pre-clinical Oncology (formerly Academic Unit of Studies), which had successful collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the UK, EU, US and Japan for over a decade. For further information: www.precos.co.uk

For further press information please contact: Sarah Evans - The Scott Partnership, 1 Whiteside, Station Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, CW4 8AA, United Kingdom. Tel: + 44 1477 539 539 Fax: +44 1477 539 540 E-mail: precos@scottpr.com

StarDrop 5.2 Adds New FieldAlign Plug-in Module

Optibrium unveils the first output from its collaboration with Cresset

CAMBRIDGE, UK, 20 March 2012 – Optibrium, developer of software solutions for drug discovery, today announces a new version of its StarDrop™ platform. StarDrop 5.2 features a new plug-in module that provides users with access to Cresset’s FieldAlign™ technology, which offers a unique, 3-dimensional insight into the biological activity of their compounds. This new development is the first result of the technology exchange between Optibrium and Cresset announced earlier this year, and adds another powerful tool to StarDrop that will enable chemists to understand the 3D structure activity relationship (SAR) of their chemistry in order to optimise their compounds.

Achieving a combination of potency with appropriate ADME and safety properties is essential to the discovery of high quality drug candidates. Optibrium’s StarDrop platform helps to identify compounds with a good balance of properties by integrating in silico and experimentally measured data using a unique multi-parameter optimisation approach, chemical space visualisation and intuitive data analysis. StarDrop’s interactive designer with Glowing Molecule™ visualisation guides the exploration of compound design strategies with instant feedback on the impact of changes on a compound’s predicted properties. These core features can be extended with plug-in modules to predict key ADME properties and P450 metabolism, build and validate robust QSAR models of in-house compounds and data, and automatically generate new, relevant compound ideas. The new FieldAlign module in StarDrop adds a powerful 3D view of compound interactions that will complement StarDrop’s existing 2D QSAR models.

FieldAlign provides a unique insight into the biological activity, properties and interactions of molecules. Using fields, biologically meaningful comparisons can be made that are not limited by two-dimensional structure. FieldAlign is a powerful molecular design and 3D SAR tool that allows the molecular fields of multiple compounds to be compared in their bioactive conformations. By highlighting both similarities and differences between molecules, FieldAlign shows where and how lead molecules bind to their protein target. This enables regions of active molecules that can be replaced, to be quickly identified, to perfect the design of a new lead compound. Furthermore, given the 3D structure of an active molecule and a series of 2D compound structures, FieldAlign will generate the best 3D alignment for the compounds, scored and ranked according to their field similarities with the known active. With this information, small compound libraries can be screened to look for novel series with greater structural diversity, and the design of focused libraries can be optimised for synthesis or initial screening.

Version 5.2 also introduces new enhancements of StarDrop’s core capabilities, in particular a flexible tool for performing automatic R-group analysis. This new feature analyses a chemical series to interactively visualise the impact of variations to R-groups, linkers, atoms or fragments on compound properties to help chemists to further understand the SAR of their chemistry and identify new optimisation strategies.  StarDrop can also enumerate the full, combinatorial library to explore the properties of compounds that have not yet been synthesised and identify potential missed opportunities.

Matt Segall, CEO of Optibrium, commented “We are excited to be able to provide a great range of new features to our users, continuing to extend StarDrop’s seamlessly integrated environment that helps to guide the efficient identification of high quality compounds. We are particularly pleased that our new collaboration with Cresset has so quickly yielded an important new capability for the StarDrop platform and look forward to continuing to work with Cresset on further joint projects.”

StarDrop 5.2 will be launched at the upcoming American Chemical Society Spring Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, CA, March 25-29. Visit Optibrium’s stand (#1419) for a first sight of this exciting new release. Further information on StarDrop can also be found at www.optibrium.com or by calling +44 1223 815900.

About Optibrium Ltd

Optibrium (www.optibrium.com) is dedicated to providing software to guide decisions involving complex, uncertain data in an intuitive way. Based in Cambridge, UK, Optibrium has a global customer base ranging from top-ten pharmaceutical companies to small biotechs and academic groups. Our mission is to continue to develop new technologies that will optimise project strategy, reduce wasted molecules and experiments, shorten timelines and improve the quality of candidate compounds for our clients. Optibrium’s primary product, StarDrop, is focused on the drug discovery industry, helping guide scientists to make decisions in the design and selection of high quality drug candidates. Visit the online community at http://www.optibrium.com/community/ for further discussions on improving the productivity of drug discovery.  

For further press information please contact: Sarah Evans, The Scott Partnership, 1 Whiteside, Station Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 8AA, UK Tel: + 44 1477 539539 Fax: +44 1477 539 540 E-mail: optibrium@scottpr.com.

About Optibrium Ltd

Optibrium (www.optibrium.com) is dedicated to providing software to guide decisions involving complex, uncertain data in an intuitive way. Based in Cambridge, UK, Optibrium has a global customer base ranging from top-ten pharmaceutical companies to small biotechs and academic groups. Our mission is to continue to develop new technologies that will optimise project strategy, reduce wasted molecules and experiments, shorten timelines and improve the quality of candidate compounds for our clients. Optibrium’s primary product, StarDrop, is focused on the drug discovery industry, helping guide scientists to make decisions in the design and selection of high quality drug candidates. Visit the online community at http://www.optibrium.com/community/ for further discussions on improving the productivity of drug discovery.  

For further press information please contact: Sarah Evans, The Scott Partnership, 1 Whiteside, Station Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 8AA, UK Tel: + 44 1477 539539 Fax: +44 1477 539 540 E-mail: optibrium@scottpr.com.

Optibrium and Cresset Announce Technology Collaboration

Technology exchange combines unique methods for design of novel, high quality compounds in drug discovery

CAMBRIDGE, and WELWYN GARDEN CITY, UK, January 4th, 2012 – Optibrium, a provider of software solutions for drug discovery, and innovative software and services provider Cresset, today announce an agreement to collaborate on the development of next-generation platforms. The innovative companies will work together, combining unique approaches to help drug discovery projects quickly identify novel, potent compounds with a high chance of success downstream.

The collaboration will involve a two-way exchange of technologies: Optibrium’s ADME models, currently provided as a plug-in module for its StarDrop™ software platform, will be made available to users of Cresset’s desktop applications. Similarly, Cresset’s FieldAlignTM software, which helps chemists understand the three-dimensional structure-activity-relationship of their chemistry in order to design active compounds, will be made available as an optional plug-in module for StarDrop, which helps project teams to confidently target compounds with a good balance of properties for their therapeutic objectives.

Achieving a combination of potency with appropriate ADME and safety properties is essential to the discovery of high quality drug candidates. Cresset’s molecular field technology provides unique insight into the biological activity, properties and interactions of molecules, which enables biologically meaningful comparisons that are not limited by two-dimensional structure. Optibrium’s StarDrop platform helps to guide decisions on the design and selection of compounds by integrating in silico and experimentally measured properties using a unique multi-parameter optimisation approach, chemical space and Glowing Molecule™ visualisations and predictive modelling.

Dr. Matthew Segall, CEO of Optibrium, said, “We are very happy to be working with the team at Cresset. This collaboration furthers our aim to deliver leading edge in silico technologies directly to the desktop of all drug discovery scientists through StarDrop’s user friendly, interactive interface. The new FieldAlign module in StarDrop will bring a powerful 3D view of compound interactions that will complement StarDrop’s existing 2D QSAR models.”

Dr. Robert Scoffin, CEO of Cresset, added “This collaboration is an excellent opportunity for two companies to combine talents and technologies in order to offer a better product to our combined customers. This highlights the power of bringing together complementary technologies from leading-edge companies to better address problems in Drug Discovery.”
The technology shared under this collaboration will form new components in upcoming releases of Optibrium's StarDrop and Cresset's desktop applications. Full details of these exciting new developments will be announced soon.

For more information about StarDrop and Optibrium’s software solutions please visit www.optibrium.com, alternatively please call +44 (0) 1223 815 900 or email info@optibrium.com.

For more information about Cresset’s software and service solutions please visit www.cresset-group.com, alternatively please call +44 (0) 1707 356 120 or email sales@cresset-group.com.

About Optibrium Ltd
Optibrium (www.optibrium.com) is dedicated to providing software to guide decisions involving complex, uncertain data in an intuitive way. Based in Cambridge, UK, Optibrium has a global customer base ranging from top-ten pharmaceutical companies to small biotechs and academic groups. Our mission is to continue to develop new technologies that will optimise project strategy, reduce wasted molecules and experiments, shorten timelines and improve the quality of candidate compounds for our clients. Optibrium’s primary product, StarDrop, is focused on the drug discovery industry, helping guide scientists to make decisions in the design and selection of high quality drug candidates. Visit the online community at http://www.optibrium.com/community/ for further discussions on improving the productivity of drug discovery.
About Cresset Group Ltd

Cresset develops software for calculating and comparing the molecular Field characteristics of chemical compounds. Field technology uses the surface properties of molecules to evaluate their activities and properties, rather than relying on 2D structure similarity, which enables Cresset’s users to find more interesting, novel and relevant results than other methods. Cresset’s Fields provide a smarter, structure independent way of hit-finding, lead switching and lead optimization in drug discovery and other chemistry-based research projects. Cresset’s Field technologies have been successfully applied to a very wide range of target classes, with and without structural information, on over 100 projects for major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. www.cresset-group.com

For further press information please contact:

Sarah Evans, The Scott Partnership, 1 Whiteside, Station Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 8AA, UK Tel: + 44 1477 539539 Fax: +44 1477 539 540 E-mail: optibrium@scottpr.com

Or

Carolyn Butchers Alto Marketing Limited, Office 3, Universal Marina, Crableck Lane, Sarisbury Green, Southampton, Hampshire, SO31 7AL Tel +44 (0)1489 557672 Email: carolynb@alto-marketing.com

Optibrium Launches New Version of Free StarVue App

Providing an Enhanced Solution for Viewing Compound Structures and Data in Drug Discovery

CAMBRIDGE, UK, July, 19, 2011 – Optibrium, a provider of software solutions for drug discovery, today launches a new version of StarVue, its innovative free desktop application that enables scientists to quickly and conveniently view sets of compound structures and related data. The latest version of StarVue can be downloaded free from Optibrium’s on-line community at www.optibrium.com/starvue/.

Optibrium Announces Free Models to Predict Toxicity of Compounds

StarDrop’s Glowing Molecule Provides Visual Link between Chemical Structure and Predicted Toxicities

CAMBRIDGE, UK, May, 25, 2011 – Optibrium, a provider of software solutions for drug discovery, announces the availability of a range of models to help predict the toxicity of potential new compounds. Optibrium has generated a range of Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) models of key toxicity endpoints, based on data made available by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of its Toxicity Evaluation Software Toolkit (T.E.S.T.). The toxicity prediction models were built with the Auto-Modeller module of the newly launched StarDrop 5 and are available to all StarDrop users free-of-charge. To find out more and download the models please visit Optibrium’s on-line community at http://www.optibrium.com/community.

Whether compounds are intended as drugs, cosmetics, agrochemicals or for other industrial applications, it is essential to understand their potential to cause toxic effects. Understanding this can allow scientists to prioritise chemical structures for further research or identify the most appropriate downstream experiments to confirm their safety. However, the ability to predict toxicities in compounds can be extremely challenging.
Models have a high degree of uncertainty in the predictions they make due to the complexity and variety of chemical and biological mechanisms that lead to toxicities.