Discovery Partners Makes Swiss Connection
San Diego-based Structural GenomiX hopes its $2.5 million investment in a cutting-edge computer system will give the company an edge in identifying protein structures and make it attractive to big drug companies.
Structural GenomiX, which identifies protein structures that big pharmaceutical firms need to develop new drugs, said Sept. 20 it signed a mutually beneficial deal with Palo Alto-based Compaq Computer Corp.
Structural GenomiX will set aside an entire room to accommodate its network of 270 individual computers that work together to simulate and quickly solve complex protein structures, said Chad Smith, associate director for information technology at Structural GenomiX.
Once the system is running, it will save time and improve efficiency, added Hye Jin Yang, a Structural GenomiX spokeswoman.
Compaq, in turn, hopes Structural GenomiX will open the door to more life science deals.
“The large server room is set up as a showroom. If any prospective customer wants to see how (Compaq’s) equipment works, they come to Structural GenomiX,” Smith said.
Smith expects the system to be fully operational by year-end.
The 2-year-old private company has 135 employees. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
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More Biotech Deals:
San Diego-based Discovery Partners International, Inc.’s Swiss unit and a Swiss-based biotechnology firm said they struck a partnership deal to identify drug leads and develop colon cancer treatments.
The Genetics Co. in Zurich and Discovery Partners’ biology division in Basel plan to screen thousands of chemical substances to identify those that are able to block a disease-causing protein from doing its job of dividing cancerous cells.
Under the deal, The Genetics Co. keeps patent rights on any useful molecules, but agreed to make milestone payments to Discovery Partners and pay for using its library of compounds.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Corixa Vs. Idec:
A Seattle-based biotech firm told Reuters it will aggressively pursue a patent infringement law suite against its San Diego-based chief rival, Idec Pharmaceuticals, Inc., but will not seek to prevent Idec from launching its non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma drug, Zevalin.
Reuters reported Sept. 18 that Corixa Corp.’s chief executive, Steven Gillis, plans to seek a “permanent injunction at the end of the case.”
Corixa hopes by then it will get approval for its own non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma drug, which experts say is similar to Idec’s drug Zevalin.
Corixa and British-based GlaxoSmithKline filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Delaware alleging Idec’s drug infringes patents held by Corixa and Glaxo.
Idec filed for a declaratory judgment in a Southern California federal district.
On Sept. 11, Zevalin received a positive review by a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee, which marks a major steppingstone for getting a drug approved.
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