Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in
serving science, today announced that the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery
Research at Temple University's School of Pharmacy has selected the company's
Maybridge screening libraries to identify compounds that might be useful in
treating health problems as diverse as Alzheimer's disease, cancer and drug
dependency.
Thermo Fisher will provide the Moulder Center with a
custom compound library based initially on the 14,000-strong HitFinder
TM
collection. This library will be used within the university as well as by its
continually expanding list of academic, pharmaceutical and biotechnology
partners.
The Moulder Center is led by Dr. Magid Abou-Gharbia, a
highly respected scientist whose work in the drug discovery field has produced
five FDA-approved therapeutics. The center conducts in-house research using its
state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. These studies are currently focused on
the identification of compounds targeting drug addiction and withdrawal
symptoms as well as the development of Alzheimer's disease. Each is built on a
foundation of rational design that is based on "Lipinski's Rule of Five," which
utilizes both computer aided analysis and high-throughput screening assays.
With an expanded Maybridge HitFinder library of more
than 20,000 candidate molecules, the team at the Moulder Center hopes to screen
a wide range of compounds. "We needed a large but manageable library that was
still flexible enough to meet the needs of our drug discovery programs and
those of our collaborators," said Dr. Abou-Gharbia. "We aim to expand the
already excellent HitFinder library by taking advantage of the extensive range
of related compounds offered by the Maybridge service. The Maybridge experts
provided exceptional technical and data support, making it easy to add the new
molecules to our collection database."
In addition to conducting its own research, the
Moulder Center collaborates with many research partners, using its expertise
and resources to enrich and expand their drug discovery pipelines. "One of our
primary aims is to provide a conduit that helps researchers move forward from
their exciting early stage research and turn their discoveries into drugs to
treat disease," said Dr. Abou-Gharbia. "Plugging this gap will help to ensure
that research laboratories, especially those in the academic sector, have the
support they need to move efficiently and accurately through the drug discovery
process."
The Maybridge HitFinder collection is a premier
offering of drug-like screening compounds that uses an industry standard
clustering algorithm to select a statistically representative sample of the
full collection. All compounds have purity greater than 90 percent and have been
selected to be non-reactive, ensuring fewer false positives and higher-quality
results.
For further information on this product please visit
www.maybridge.com.
About the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery
Research
The Moulder Center for Drug Discovery
Research was established in Temple University's School of Pharmacy in 2008. The
Center is located in Philadelphia, Pa., a region that has historically been the
home to so many of the pharmaceutical companies that it has become the heart of
pharma or biomedical research, and has earned the moniker, "Silicon Valley of
biomedical research and drug discovery." Led by its director, Dr. Magid
Abou-Gharbia, the Moulder Center is a fully integrated drug discovery facility,
involved in multi-disciplinary research and featuring state-of-the-art
medicinal chemistry and screening laboratories, a 20,000-compound library that
allows for drug screening and optimization, as well as computer-aided drug
design or CADD to do virtual drug screening. The Center's research capabilities
are enhanced through its numerous internal and external collaborations and
partnerships.
About Maybridge
Maybridge, a Thermo Fisher Scientific brand,
is well known for highly innovative drug-like molecules and screening compounds
for drug discovery and development. With products available for both lab and
development scale, the Maybridge line features new heterocyclic and phenyl
ring-based chemical building blocks, including a unique and expanding range of reactive
intermediates. For more information about Maybridge brand products, visit
www.maybridge.com or call +44 18 40 77 05
67.
About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher
Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science. Our mission is to
enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. With
revenues of nearly $11 billion, we have approximately 37,000 employees and
serve customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and
clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions and government
agencies, as well as in environmental and process control industries. We create
value for our key stakeholders through two premier brands, Thermo Scientific
and Fisher Scientific, which offer a unique combination of continuous
technology development and the most convenient purchasing options. Our products
and services help accelerate the pace of scientific discovery, and solve
analytical challenges ranging from complex research to routine testing to field
applications. Visit
www.thermofisher.com.