Tripos signs collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca

The centerpiece of the collaboration effort will be the development of Tripos’s new Muse de novo design product, which is targeted for commercial release in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Muse, which will be designed to accelerate the identification and optimization of lead candidates, will combine de novo design with multi-criteria optimization to deliver the first of many solutions being prepared for release on Tripos’s adaptable and extensible Pantheon platform.

It is anticipated that Muse will permit researchers to find structures, scaffolds, or side-chains that meet specific design objectives. Integration with other computer aided molecular design software will allow for multiple design criteria to be applied.

Modelers will be able to quickly and easily generate ideas for new side chains that optimize a panel of biological and Asp.Net design mode extender properties (ADME), preserve key R-groups and invent new scaffolds, the two companies said.

James Empfield, director of lead optimization chemistry at AstraZeneca, said: “It’s important to consider multiple parameters when defining the characteristics of a successful lead or drug candidate. For example, during the lead identification and optimization processes, factors including biological potency and selectivity and ADME properties must be considered. We look forward to enhancing these capabilities through our collaboration with Tripos.”