GLASGOW, Scotland, Jan. 23, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- PanTherix Ltd. today announced that it has entered a research agreement with Genome Therapeutics (Nasdaq:GENE), to support Genome Therapeutics' lead optimization activities. PanTherix will apply its protein structure determination expertise to provide structural information on Genome Therapeutics' drug targets and leads to accelerate the development of antibacterial drug candidates.
"This collaboration is an endorsement of PanTherix's approach to structure-based drug research," commented Chris Latham, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of PanTherix. "We expect that the application of our technology to Genome Therapeutics' anti-infectives drug development pipeline will aid the downstream development of novel therapeutics."
Under the terms of the agreement, PanTherix will decipher the three-dimensional structures of Genome Therapeutics' essential bacterial targets co-crystallized with Genome Therapeutics' drug leads, providing key structural information on drug-protein interactions to accelerate the identification of optimized antibacterial drug candidates.
"The goal of our internal anti-infective drug discovery program remains the rapid advancement of drug candidates towards the clinic," stated Richard Labaudiniere, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research and Development at Genome Therapeutics. "By using PanTherix's x-ray technology, we are gaining access to critical understanding that will foster the rapid progress of our lead optimization projects."
PanTherix Ltd. is a Glasgow, Scotland-based, privately held anti-infectives company developing new antibiotics acting on novel targets for the treatment of drug-resistant hospital-acquired infections. The Company integrates structural data obtained by protein crystallography and functional information obtained by enzymology to accelerate the gene to drug process. http://www.pantherix.com
Genome Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of pharmaceutical and diagnostics products. The Company's first product candidate, Ramoplanin, is in a Phase III clinical trial for the prevention of bloodstream infections caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Genome Therapeutics' biopharmaceutical business includes seven major product discovery alliances with several pharmaceutical companies including Schering-Plough, AstraZeneca, Wyeth, Amgen and bioMerieux. The Company's genomics services business, GenomeVision(TM) Services, provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and government and academic institutions with custom high-throughput sequencing, library construction, integrated SNP services and the PathoGenome(TM) Database. http://www.genomecorp.com
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