June 24, 2004
CHEMNAVIGATOR EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH SEMAFORE PHARMACEUTICALS FOR 3DPL™ VIRTUAL SCREENING PROGRAM
ChemNavigator today announced that Semafore has signed a new agreement to work with ChemNavigator in the area of virtual screening for novel oncology-target compounds. The new agreement is based on the successful outcome of an oncology virtual screening program initiated with Semafore Pharmaceuticals in June of 2003.
"We are confident that our interaction with ChemNavigator will help us move forward rapidly with our drug discovery program," said Joe Garlich, CEO and president of Semafore. "As shown by our extended agreement, we are very pleased with ChemNavigator's unique capabilities and the support they provide."
Under the terms of the new agreement, ChemNavigator will apply its proprietary virtual screening technology, 3DPL™, to an oncology target within Semafore's signal transduction model to identify likely binding compounds from within the millions of commercially accessible drug-like chemical samples tracked within ChemNavigator's iResearch Library. ChemNavigator will deliver the screening results to Semafore in the form of a database of compounds that contains multiple chemistry classes that Semafore may test to identify new potential drug leads.
"This second virtual screening agreement with Semafore was driven by the success of our first 3DPL technology agreement with Semafore - this marks our first publicly acknowledged success story," said Scott Hutton, president and chief executive officer of ChemNavigator. "We have developed a flexible business model ranging from simple fee for service to collaborative drug discovery agreements. We have other programs underway and expect to announce additional successes in virtual screening later this year."
Developed by Dr. Tad Hurst and his research group at ChemNavigator, 3DPL technology is used to rapidly identify drug-like compounds that are much more likely to show biological activity against a drug target than compounds selected through traditional methods. The technology works by simulating the interactions between flexible drug-like molecules and the entire surface of a 3D protein model. "At analysis speeds of up to 10 compounds per second across an entire protein's surface, 3DPL™ is a generation beyond other virtual screening technologies", states Dr. Hurst, chief technical officer of ChemNavigator, "3DPL's strategy of considering the entire protein surface allows it to identify potential biologically active compounds overlooked by other virtual screening techniques."
About Semafore
Semafore is an Indianapolis-based company discovering and developing small molecule cancer drugs to modulate critical cell signaling pathways. The company's programs leverage a breakthrough -- the discovery of the PI3K /PTEN pathway's role as the primary non-redundant controlling mechanism for angiogenesis, cell survival, programmed cell death (apoptosis), cell migration and cell proliferation. Semafore is establishing a leadership position in this important new area and has already produced a portfolio of high potential drug candidates. Its lead programs, Interceptors™ for cancer therapy and MarrowShield™ for protection by a single agent against radiation and chemotherapy-induced anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia, are in pre-clinical development and are scheduled to enter clinical trials in 2005. Semafore's lead products are expected to have significant efficacy advantages compared to existing and developmental cancer therapies. The company's core technology and intellectual property are exclusively licensed from Indiana University. For more information, see the company's Web site www.semaforepharma.com.
For more information, please contact:
Semafore Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Derek A. Small
Director of Corporate Development
+317-876-3075
Media: Stephen Gendel
GendeLLindheim BioCom Partners
+212-918-4650
About ChemNavigator, Inc.
ChemNavigator is a privately held pharmaceutical research company focused on drug discovery using our proprietary proteomics and cheminformatics technologies, called 3DPL™ and ChemMatrix™. Our competitive advantage is our unique ability to identify and analyze, with unmatched speed, the biochemical relationships that exist between a potential drug compound and its entire drug target molecule. Our 3DPL technology is designed to allow more efficient and cost effective drug discovery by providing the ability to screen tens of millions of potential drugs in silico in order to rapidly identify compounds with a high likelihood of showing favorable activity. Our ChemMatrix technology is employed within products and services used by over 40 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
For more information, please contact:
ChemNavigator, Inc.
Scott Hutton
President & CEO
here
ChemNavigator today announced that Semafore has signed a new agreement to work with ChemNavigator in the area of virtual screening for novel oncology-target compounds. The new agreement is based on the successful outcome of an oncology virtual screening program initiated with Semafore Pharmaceuticals in June of 2003.
"We are confident that our interaction with ChemNavigator will help us move forward rapidly with our drug discovery program," said Joe Garlich, CEO and president of Semafore. "As shown by our extended agreement, we are very pleased with ChemNavigator's unique capabilities and the support they provide."
Under the terms of the new agreement, ChemNavigator will apply its proprietary virtual screening technology, 3DPL™, to an oncology target within Semafore's signal transduction model to identify likely binding compounds from within the millions of commercially accessible drug-like chemical samples tracked within ChemNavigator's iResearch Library. ChemNavigator will deliver the screening results to Semafore in the form of a database of compounds that contains multiple chemistry classes that Semafore may test to identify new potential drug leads.
"This second virtual screening agreement with Semafore was driven by the success of our first 3DPL technology agreement with Semafore - this marks our first publicly acknowledged success story," said Scott Hutton, president and chief executive officer of ChemNavigator. "We have developed a flexible business model ranging from simple fee for service to collaborative drug discovery agreements. We have other programs underway and expect to announce additional successes in virtual screening later this year."
Developed by Dr. Tad Hurst and his research group at ChemNavigator, 3DPL technology is used to rapidly identify drug-like compounds that are much more likely to show biological activity against a drug target than compounds selected through traditional methods. The technology works by simulating the interactions between flexible drug-like molecules and the entire surface of a 3D protein model. "At analysis speeds of up to 10 compounds per second across an entire protein's surface, 3DPL™ is a generation beyond other virtual screening technologies", states Dr. Hurst, chief technical officer of ChemNavigator, "3DPL's strategy of considering the entire protein surface allows it to identify potential biologically active compounds overlooked by other virtual screening techniques."
About Semafore
Semafore is an Indianapolis-based company discovering and developing small molecule cancer drugs to modulate critical cell signaling pathways. The company's programs leverage a breakthrough -- the discovery of the PI3K /PTEN pathway's role as the primary non-redundant controlling mechanism for angiogenesis, cell survival, programmed cell death (apoptosis), cell migration and cell proliferation. Semafore is establishing a leadership position in this important new area and has already produced a portfolio of high potential drug candidates. Its lead programs, Interceptors™ for cancer therapy and MarrowShield™ for protection by a single agent against radiation and chemotherapy-induced anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia, are in pre-clinical development and are scheduled to enter clinical trials in 2005. Semafore's lead products are expected to have significant efficacy advantages compared to existing and developmental cancer therapies. The company's core technology and intellectual property are exclusively licensed from Indiana University. For more information, see the company's Web site www.semaforepharma.com.
For more information, please contact:
Semafore Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Derek A. Small
Director of Corporate Development
+317-876-3075
Media: Stephen Gendel
GendeLLindheim BioCom Partners
+212-918-4650
About ChemNavigator, Inc.
ChemNavigator is a privately held pharmaceutical research company focused on drug discovery using our proprietary proteomics and cheminformatics technologies, called 3DPL™ and ChemMatrix™. Our competitive advantage is our unique ability to identify and analyze, with unmatched speed, the biochemical relationships that exist between a potential drug compound and its entire drug target molecule. Our 3DPL technology is designed to allow more efficient and cost effective drug discovery by providing the ability to screen tens of millions of potential drugs in silico in order to rapidly identify compounds with a high likelihood of showing favorable activity. Our ChemMatrix technology is employed within products and services used by over 40 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
For more information, please contact:
ChemNavigator, Inc.
Scott Hutton
President & CEO
here
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