CAMBRIDGE, U.K., Dec. 9, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Astex Technology, the structure-based drug discovery company, today announced the issuance of a patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,484,103) covering the structure of a key protein for antimicrobial drug discovery. The Company also reported that they have received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a second antimicrobial drug target.
The inventors, including Astex's co-founders, Prof Chris Abell and Prof Sir Tom Blundell FRS, determined the 3-dimensional structures of E.coli pantothenate synthetase and aspartate decarboxylase using X-ray crystallography techniques. Both proteins are part of the biosynthetic pathway that leads to the production of pantothenate (Vitmain B5). Internal synthesis of pantothenate occurs in only plants, fungi and microorganisms, not animals, hence enzymes of the pathway are potential targets for antimicrobial drugs. Astex has proprietary positions on these and other enzyme structures in the Vitamin B5 pathway.
"Knowledge of the 3-dimensional shape of these important bacterial proteins will greatly facilitate drug design," commented Timothy Haines, Chief Executive of Astex. "We are looking for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies who wish to partner with us in the design and development of novel, antimicrobial compounds based on these exciting discoveries."
Astex's intellectual property portfolio includes trademarks, software, significant know-how, and a patent estate that reflects the diverse but integrated portfolio of Astex technologies utilised in the drug discovery process. This includes new nucleic acid and amino acid sequences, crystal structures and methods for their production, computer-based analytical methods, and chemical compounds and their therapeutic use.
Astex Technology is a structure-based drug discovery company pioneering the use of high throughput X-ray crystallography for the rapid identification of novel drug candidates. The Company's unique structural screening approach utilizes protein crystal structures to detect the binding of drug fragments, which are then optimized into potent lead compounds. Facilitating this approach is the company's integrated drug discovery platform of HTX(R) technologies, which covers all aspects of structure-based research, including protein production, crystallization, structure determination, bioinformatics and computational and medicinal chemistry.
Astex Technology is focusing its drug discovery approaches on proprietary and public domain protein targets from families and/or pathways. This includes validated kinases, phosphatases and proteases implicated in human disease. Astex has a drug discovery collaboration with Mitsubishi Pharma, has further research agreements with another large pharmaceutical company, and has structural biology research agreements with AstraZeneca AB, Aventis Pharmaceuticals and Mitsubishi Pharma focused on solving novel cytochrome P450 crystal structures.