Fragment-based drug discovery firm Beactica is to exploit its Sprint™ drug discovery platform to generate small molecule leads against therapeutic targets provided by Janssen Research and Development. Sweden-based Beactica says the new deal is the fourth signed with a global top-20 pharmaceutical firm over the past 18 months.
The firm is exploiting its surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor-based Sprint platform for services and partnerships in the area of small molecule interaction analysis and fragment-based lead generation. The technology is based on SPR biosensor analysis using a range of instruments and sensor chips and initial analysis software combined with analytical tools and a fragment library.
Beactica claims the overall platform allows the integration of kinetic and structural analysis of protein-ligand interactions together with specialist analysis methods for interpreting and modeling interaction kinetic data.
In February it was awarded a €700,000 EU grant under the 7th Framework Programme to support influenza research within the FluCure consortium. Beactica will apply the Sprint platform to help speed the identification and optimization of novel small molecules targeting influenza. The FluCure project builds on the achievements of the EU’s previous FluDrugStrategy program.