The CCBT, which is directed by Prof. Ashok Venkitaraman (University of Cambridge) in an international collaboration between Cambridge and inStem, seeks to pioneer new approaches for chemical biology and therapeutics through the development of new methods for small-molecule drug discovery. Cresset and Forge will be used in the new computational chemistry group in the CCBT.
Dr. Kavitha Bharatham, who leads the computational chemistry team in CCBT, says “Having used Cresset’s software in my previous role, I am very keen to apply it to our work at CCBT. My experience with Forge and Spark makes me confident that they will be valuable tools for our research. The support I have received from Cresset staff has been excellent, and I am very pleased to introduce their computational tools to CCBT for our lead optimization and identification projects. I am confident that we will achieve our goals.” Prof. Ashok Venkitaraman, who directs the CCBT, adds, “The CCBT aims to pioneer innovative new approaches for using chemical tools to understand the biology of human diseases like cancer, and to develop new avenues for therapy. I am pleased that we will be licensing Cresset’s software for our work.”
“We are delighted that the CCBT at inStem has chosen to work with Spark and Forge,” says Dr David Bardsley, Cresset’s Commercial Director. “Spark will enable them to generate novel and diverse structures and to use reagent databases to inform synthetic decisions. Forge gives the CCBT control and insight into their activity data enabling them to plan the direction of their project with confidence.”
About Cresset
Cresset develops software for calculating and comparing the molecular field characteristics of chemical compounds. Cresset also offers consultancy services which enable companies to outsource computational chemistry work to achieve high value, on-demand expertise, particularly in the areas of library design, virtual screening, scaffold hopping, lead optimization and patent analysis.
Cresset’s field technology uses the surface properties of molecules to evaluate their activities and properties, rather than relying on 2D structure similarity, which enables Cresset’s users to find more interesting, novel and relevant results than other methods. This field technology provides a smarter, structure independent way of hit-finding, lead switching and lead optimization in drug discovery and other chemistry-based research projects. Cresset’s field technologies have been successfully applied to a very wide range of target classes, with and without structural information, on over 100 projects for major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. www.cresset-group.com
About inStem
The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), is a state-of-the-art research institute in Bangalore, India, dedicated to the study of stem cell and regenerative biology. An autonomous institute funded by the Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, inStem emphasizes collaborative research in stem cell biology. inStem’s mandate to allow this cross-disciplinary, multi-pronged approach to research, straddles the divide between clinical and laboratory research in stem cell biology. In trying to answer intractable and challenging questions that face the field, inStem seeks to rewrite the paradigm of the research institute: without barriers and across disciplines. www.instem.res.in/
About the Centre for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics at inStem
The Centre for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CCBT) is an integrated multidisciplinary research centre designed to pioneer new approaches to create small-molecule tools that target novel classes of targets, and use them to conduct hypothesis-generating and hypothesis-driven research on experimental systems of biomedical importance. The CCBTs long-term vision is to foster knowledge-driven therapeutic interventions for important human diseases through fundamental new insights into disease biology. The CCBT is funded by a direct award from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, as an inter-institutional collaborative centre between inStem and NCBS.
http://instem.res.in/research/research-themes/center-for-chemical-biology-and-therapeutics
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Media Contacts
Cresset: Sue Peffer, Marketing Manager, Email: sue@cresset-group.com; Phone: +44 (0)1223 858890
KDM Communications: Sarah Allen, Email: sarah@kdm-communications.com; Phone: +44 (0)1480 405333
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