Aureus Sciences, ChemAxon, Budapest University of Technology and sanofi-aventis Collaborate on European Project Related to Toxicity
Aureus Sciences and ChemAxon announced today that they have been awarded a European Eureka project along with pharmaceutical partner sanofi-aventis and academic partner Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The goal of the project KnowTox(R) is to build a new knowledge base related to hepatotoxicity as well as related predictive tools to extend the value of the system.
Drug-induced hepatotoxicity or liver damage/disease is a major concern during the drug development process. Toxicity knowledge exists but data is scattered in numerous sources and can not easily be accessed simultaneously. Having access to a knowledge database containing detailed biological and chemical data and associated analysis applications will lead to better use of available knowledge and time and costs saving during drug development.
In this project, Aureus Sciences brings its expertise in building chemical biology knowledge databases, sanofi-aventis provides toxicological experts from the pharma industry to validate the products and ChemAxon, a software solution provider and Budapest University of Technology and Economics with their expertise in chemical reaction modeling will extend their software tools to deal with reactions and substrates involved in the metabolism of compounds and also develop predictive tools for hepatoxicity.
“We are pleased Aureus Sciences can bring to this partnership its expertise to build a knowledge database related to hepatoxicity” said Dr. Francois Petitet, Director of Life Sciences at Aureus Sciences. “This will allow researchers access to previous failures and pertinent toxic alerts which will limit failure during the drug discovery process.” Dr. Miklos Vargyas, Chief Science Officer at ChemAxon added, “This knowledge can be used in building computational models capable of predicting metabolites and their hepatoxicity, so extending the scope of insilico approaches”
It is expected that the KnowTox Knowledge database and predictive tools will be commercially available upon completion of the project.
About ChemAxon
ChemAxon is a leader in providing Java-based chemical software development platforms for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. With core capabilities including structure visualization and management, property prediction, virtual synthesis, screening and drug design, ChemAxon focuses upon active interaction with users and portability to create powerful, cost effective cross platform solutions and programming interfaces to power modern cheminformatics and chemical communication.( http://www.chemaxon.com )
About Aureus Sciences
Aureus Sciences headquartered in Paris, France is a privately held knowledge management based solutions provider for the life sciences industry. Aureus Sciences accelerates new drug discovery by providing knowledge databases which contain high quality quantitative information for both chemistry and biology. Researchers gain rapid access to knowledge for important drug target classes including GPCR, Ion Channel, Kinase as well as other critical pharmaceutical topics including ADME/Drug-Drug Interactions and the hERG Channel. The information contained in the Aureus Sciences system is of primary importance to aid in lead discovery and optimization as well as to build predictive models. For further information on how Aureus Sciences helps researchers turn data into discovery visit www.aureus-sciences.com
