Chemical Diversity enters prostrate cancer discovery partnership

Prostate cancer is claimed to be the most frequently occurring cancer among males in developed countries and accounts for 9% of cancer deaths in men, second only to lung cancers. Prostate cancer is frequently asymptomatic in the early stages, and later stage diagnosis greatly reduces the efficacy of available therapeutic methods.

Chemical Diversity Research Institute and its collaborators plan to deploy post-genome technologies including rational drug design and medicinal chemistry, chemical genomics and systems biology to support efficient preclinical discovery and development programs. The American partners from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will provide a knowledge base system for chemical and biological information, using modular chemical descriptor language technology. Experts from other Russian academic research institutions and the NCI will be engaged in the project.

Dmitry Kravchenko, general director of Chemical Diversity Research Institute said: “ChemDiv and Chemical Diversity Research Institute have established a long track record of success in lead discovery, with specific expertise in oncology pathway chemistry and biology. This opportunity allows them to expand their collaboration with experts in oncology and rational drug design in an especially meaningful context – targeting a major unmet need for new approached to the prevention and treatment for prostate cancer in US, Russia, and world wide.”