Schrödinger said today it will provide computational resources to Sanofi for up to 10 drug discovery programs, under a $120 million, multi-year collaboration launched by the companies.
The provider of enterprise software solutions and services for life sciences and materials research—including advanced molecular simulations—said it will deliver to the pharma giant comprehensive computational drug design support, from target analysis and validation to lead identification and lead optimization.
Specifically, Schrödinger promised, it will apply computer aided design (CAD) toward determining the structures of proteins and ligands, as well as predicting potency of new drugs “at a level that is unprecedented in the pharmaceutical industry.” Schrödinger added that it plans to deploy a new enterprise informatics system to facilitate real-time collaboration between computational designers and medicinal chemists. The system will serve as the communications and project management platform for researchers across both companies.
The collaboration will include payments tied to unspecified preclinical milestones, Schrödinger said.
Schrödinger president Ramy S. Farid, Ph.D., said in a statement the collaboration marked an expansion of a long-term partnership with Sanofi. Executives of Sanofi have delivered presentations or chaired sessions at user meetings and workshops held by Schrödinger stretching back to 2006. Topics have included molecular dynamics, biologics design, ligand-based drug design, and GPCR targets, and last year, inhibition of the enzyme Cathespin A as a potential new strategy for treating cardiovascular diseases.
“We welcome the challenge and are excited to contribute to new therapies that combat a wide range of human diseases,” Dr. Farid said.
