University of Cambridge Applies ACD/Labs Property-based Design Tools to Natural Product Research
Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., (ACD/Labs) is pleased to announce that the Ley Research Group at the University of Cambridge has chosen ACD/Labs’ sophisticated property-based design studio, ACD/MedChem Advisor, to aid them in the development of complex natural products.
Through ACD/MedChem Advisor, the Group will have access to prediction algorithms that will enable them to evaluate the physicochemical properties for their synthesized compounds, namely logD, pKa, logP, and aqueous solubility. The knowledge of their compounds’ structure-property relationships will provide a working hypothesis towards chemically-relevant structural modifications that aid in compound optimization.
ACD/MedChem Advisor will also provide the Group with a compilation of databases to help them identify substituents or heterocycles that can favorably shift the physical properties of their compounds. Containing compilations of popular heterocycles, as well as neutral, acidic, and basic organic substituents, the databases can be queried on a number of search parameters to identify similar topology, synthetic feasibility, and molecular stability.
Professor Steven Ley, Head of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, states, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to evaluate ACD/MedChem Advisor in a number of our synthesis programmes and look forward to working closer with ACD/Labs and AGB Scientific Solutions on this initiative.”
The Ley Research Group purchased ACD/MedChem Advisor through AGB Scientific Solutions, Inc., the official ACD/Labs Distributor for the UK and Ireland. Mike Partington, Managing Director for AGB Scientific Solutions, comments on the purchase, “We are enjoying increasing success within academia and we are delighted to be working with Cambridge University. MedChem Advisor will help the group gain a critical insight into the relationship between a compound’s structure and its physical properties, enabling the focus of synthetic effort into a direction more likely to improve drug-like properties. We are looking forward to working with Cambridge and other Universities to help chemists in this vital area.”
Antony Williams, VP and Chief Science Officer for ACD/Labs, adds “ACD/Labs has long been the accepted provider of physicochemical property prediction. Our tools are utilized by thousands of medicinal chemists in the majority of drug discovery organizations. By delivering ACD/MedChem Advisor we have extended the potential impact of ACD/PhysChem software since scientists now have the ability to design molecules with optimized properties, without sacrificing their potency. We look forward to developing a relationship with Cambridge University as they navigate a new territory for computer-based molecular design.”
Further information about ACD/MedChem Advisor can be found at www.acdlabs.com/adme .
About Advanced Chemistry Development
Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., (ACD/Labs) is a chemistry software company offering solutions that truly integrate chemical structures with analytical chemistry information to produce ChemAnalytics™. ACD/Labs creates innovative software packages that aid chemical research scientists worldwide with spectroscopic validation of structures, elucidation of unknown substances, chromatographic separation, medicinal chemistry, preformulation of novel drug agents, systematic nomenclature generation, and chemical patenting and publication. Combined, ACD/Labs’ solutions create an analytical informatics system that provides dramatic feed-forward effects on the chemical and pharmaceutical research process. Founded in 1993, and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, ACD/Labs employs a team of over 100 dedicated individuals whose continual efforts carry ACD/Labs’ innovative technologies into pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and materials companies throughout the world. Information about Advanced Chemistry Development and its products can be found at www.acdlabs.com .
About AGB Scientific Solutions
AGB Scientific Solutions ( www.agbscientificsolutions.com ) was established to provide a focused and coherent source of scientific software for UK scientists. Having formed strategic business alliances with a number of internationally-renowned software companies, they are in a position to provide customers with the best software solutions their data demands. As an independent company, with no affiliation to any scientific instrumentation manufacturer, AGB are uniquely placed to supply the best data solution for the laboratory. The AGB Scientific Solutions team is comprised of committed technical professionals with many years of experience in laboratory software. Their nationwide coverage means they are always available for consultation, advice, and generation of user requirement specifications.
About the Ley Group and the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge ( http://www.cam.ac.uk ) is one of the world’s leading universities. It has a worldwide reputation for outstanding academic achievement and the high quality of research undertaken in a wide range of science and arts subjects. The University pioneers work in the understanding of disease, the creation of new materials, advances in telecommunications, and research into the origins of the universe.
The Ley Group ( http://leygroup.ch.cam.ac.uk/ ) is involved in a wide variety of research, including developing new synthetic methods and catalysts, combinatorial chemistry (especially using supported reagents), carbohydrate chemistry, tricarbonyliron complexes in synthesis, application of enzymes and whole cells in synthesis, insect antifeedants, and the total synthesis of complex natural products. Under the direction of Professor Steven Ley, Head of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, the group has published extensively on the synthesis of natural products, and more than 110 target compounds have been synthesized.
Steven Ley’s work of 550 papers has been recognized by 25 major prizes and awards, including the 2003 Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products and the 2006 Robinson Award and Medal.
