Cocrystal Pharma, HitGen and InterX Enter into Drug Discovery Collaboration
September 05 2017 - 8:15AM
Marketwired
Cocrystal Pharma, HitGen and InterX Enter into Drug Discovery
Collaboration
ATLANTA, GA and BOTHELL, WA-(Marketwired - Sep 5, 2017) -
Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (OTCQB: COCP) today announced that it has
entered into a research collaboration with HitGen, Ltd., a private
biotechnology company and InterX, Inc., a private computer software
company to develop small molecule drug candidates against several
undisclosed targets.
Through the collaboration, Cocrystal, HitGen and InterX
scientists will apply HitGen's DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology
platform and research capabilities in the design, synthesis, and
screening of multiple proprietary DELs. The DEL technology enables
a large number of compounds to be rapidly identified for specific
drug targets. Cocrystal will use its industrialized crystallization
and co-crystallization technology to determine at near atomic
resolution the structures of HitGen's selected library compounds
that interact with drug targets. Finally, InterX will use its
advanced proprietary software to design superior drugs from the
information provided by Cocrystal and HitGen.
The goal of the collaboration is to produce superior drugs
rapidly, without the need for extensive time-consuming and
expensive chemical synthesis and testing. A Joint Steering
Committee will oversee the project and manage the program. InterX
software combined with the structural information from Cocrystal
can predict the strength of drug-target interactions using the most
advanced computer algorithms available today.
"The combination of HitGen's industry-leading DNA encoded
libraries, InterX's unique and proven software and Cocrystal's
successful experience in structure-based drug discovery has the
potential to rapidly produce superior drug candidates at
comparatively low cost," said Gary L. Wilcox, Ph.D., Interim Chief
Executive Officer of the Company.
"This collaboration represents a new approach to drug discovery,
with the potential to create the best molecules for all targets,
including previously inaccessible ones," said Roger Kornberg (Nobel
Laureate and Executive CEO of InterX).
"HitGen is enthusiastic about this opportunity for combining its
proprietary DNA-encoded libraries with the proven technologies of
Cocrystal and InterX. HitGen has entered into similar research
collaborations with Merck and Pfizer this year using HitGen's DELs
to potentially bring enormous efficiencies, optimization and time
savings in drug development," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the
Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen.
About Cocrystal Pharma Cocrystal is a pharmaceutical
company seeking to discover and develop novel antiviral
therapeutics as treatments for serious and/or chronic viral
diseases. Cocrystal employs unique structure based technologies and
Nobel Prize winning expertise to create first- and best-in-class
antiviral drugs. These technologies, including our nucleoside
chemistry expertise, are designed to efficiently deliver small
molecule therapeutics that are safe, effective and convenient to
administer. The company has identified promising, preclinical stage
antiviral compounds for unmet medical needs including hepatitis,
influenza and norovirus infections. Cocrystal has previously
received strategic investments from Teva Pharmaceuticals, OPKO
Health (NASDAQ: OPK), Brace Pharma Capital, LLC, and The Frost
Group. For further information about Cocrystal, please refer to
www.cocrystalpharma.com.
About HitGen Ltd HitGen is a biotech company with
headquarters and main research facilities based in Chengdu, China,
and with a laboratory in Houston, Texas, USA. HitGen has
established a unique platform for drug discovery research. HitGen's
DNA encoded chemical libraries (DELs) contain more than 85 billion
novel, diverse, drug-like compounds. These compounds are members of
DELs synthesized from many hundreds of distinct chemical scaffolds,
designed with tractable chemistry and proven results for finding
drug leads against targets from known and novel protein classes.
HitGen is working with multiple pharmaceutical, biotech companies
and research institutes to discover and develop novel therapeutics
of the future. For further information about HitGen, please refer
to www.hitgen.com.
About InterX InterX technology enables biochemical
simulations with chemical accuracy. The goal is to have computation
and experiment agreeing to within 0.5 kcal/Mol. InterX uses Nobel
Prize-winning technology to derive novel rules of biochemical
interactions and to apply them to real world problems in Pharma,
Biochemistry and Materials Science. InterX is based in Berkeley,
California. For further information about InterX, please refer to
www.interxinc.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press
release contains forward-looking statements including our
expectations regarding the research collaboration and the
anticipated results. The words "believe," "may," "estimate,"
"continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "plan," "could,"
"target," "potential," "is likely," "will," "expect" and similar
expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking
statements largely on our current expectations and projections
about future events including joint research collaboration.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from
those in the forward-looking statements include the uncertain
results from any new research and the ability of scientists from
each party to work smoothly. Further information on our risk
factors is contained in our filings with the SEC, including our
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. Any forward-looking
statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it
is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to
differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us
to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly
update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be
required by law.
Contact Information: Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. Gary Wilcox
gwilcox@cocrystalpharma.com James Martin jmartin@cocrystalphama.com
HitGen, Ltd. Jin Li jin.li@hitgen.com
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