Cyclenium Pharma And SRI Sign Into Drug Discovery Collaboration
Non-profit scientific research organization Southern Research Institute (SRI) announced that it has entered into drug discovery and development partnership with Cyclenium Pharma.
Helmut Thomas, President and CEO of Cyclenium, said, “We are very pleased to have initiated this collaboration with a prestigious organization like Southern Research. Their breadth of expertise and long history of successful contributions to drug discovery and development will provide strong synergy for our proprietary macrocyclic technology with the expectation of multiple novel candidates resulting from our joint efforts over the next few years.”
The collaboration will focus on utilizing Cyclenium’s proprietary libraries of next generation macrocyclic molecules and associated hit-to-lead optimization expertise. Together with Southern Research’s capabilities in target screening, preclinical development, and compound profiling, the companies will aim to discover and jointly develop clinical candidates for cancer, neurological conditions, and infectious diseases.
Mark J. Suto, VP of Drug Discovery Division Southern Research Institute said that Cyclenium's proprietary macrocyclic libraries are well suited for use against many challenging targets the company is currently working on. “For example, screening of currently available small molecule libraries has not been very successful in the identification of new antibiotics and in targets associated with disrupting protein-protein interactions. The Cyclenium macrocycle libraries are unique in that they combine the complexities found in natural products with the drug-like properties needed for successful drug discovery. We are looking forward to collaborating with Cyclenium in the identification of new therapeutics.”
Southern Research Institute is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1941. SRI is focused on preclinical drug discovery and development among other areas. The organization has formed partnerships in defense and aerospace aside from pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields. Cyclenium Pharma is an emerging pharmaceutical R&D company focused on developing drugs based on proprietary macrocyclic chemistry and in areas of unsatisfied medical need.