Accelrys Announces Three-Year Licensing Agreement with Axxima
Accelrys unveiled a three-year software licensing agreement with Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG. Axxima will apply Accelrys’ molecular modeling technology to target important infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis C, and tuberculosis. The aim is to speed up the discovery of novel drugs to treat these diseases. Accelrys’ software supports Axxima’s strategy to fully integrate molecular modeling within its Medicinal Chemistry Department, improving communication between chemists and modelers and leading to a more efficient process.
A key element in the agreement is Accelrys’ LigandFit software which offers a broad range of structure-based design capabilities to allow rapid evaluation of thousands of drug-like molecules against protein target sites. LigandFit calculates the likelihood that a compound will interact strongly with a protein target, indicating promising lead compounds. Accelrys scientists will continue to work closely with Axxima to extend the validation of LigandFit for protein kinases, the primary class of targets studied by Axxima. This collaborative validation will enable Axxima to quantify virtual high throughput screening hits and to reach more rapid and reliable hypotheses.
“We are convinced that LigandFit is a very promising technology and we are confident that it will optimize workflow and throughput in our drug discovery programs,” states Dr. Andrea Missio, director of chemistry at Axxima. “It was also important to us that Accelrys could address all of our computational chemistry needs within a single environment.”
“This agreement not only provides Axxima with a valuable research tool,” emphasizes Dr. Scott Kahn, chief science officer at Accelrys, “but it is also supported by joint projects to expand validation of our science in an important class of disease targets. The Accelrys approach is to work closely with cutting-edge research organizations to optimize our technology and to improve the impact of our science.”
Protein kinases play a vital role in cellular communication. Amongst other functions, they are involved in passing on signals by switching on or off the activities of other proteins. Disturbances in cellular communication frequently lead to diseases. For example, agents that cause infectious diseases manipulate the cellular messaging system of their host for their own purposes in order to propagate themselves.
