PlaqueTec, a company specializing in identifying endotype-specific biomarkers to advance precision medicine for coronary artery disease (CAD), and RxCelerate, a leading international outsourced drug discovery and development service provider, have announced the successful completion of a collaboration to assess small molecules identified from an initial cheminformatics drug screen in a bespoke cell-based assay developed by RxCelerate on one of PlaqueTec’s targets discovered in pilot studies.
The collaborative project aimed to assess small molecules in a functional cell-based assay offered through RxCelerate’s bespoke services, based on the identification of suitable candidates from an initial virtual drug screen against a novel target in CAD discovered by PlaqueTec.
The project has enabled the lead compounds to be characterized successfully, demonstrating the value of the assay in the progress of PlaqueTec’s mission to endotype CAD and develop personalized interventions to transform patient care.
If the target is validated in PlaqueTec’s ongoing BIOPATTERN trial, the collaborators plan to bring forward other lead compounds for further investigation, alongside further drug screening for other new targets identified and validated in BIOPATTERN.
The collaboration between PlaqueTec and RxCelerate was a continuation of an initial pilot project carried out with Medicines Discovery Catapult. The early project aimed to use computational approaches to determine candidate small molecules with activity against the novel target discovered by PlaqueTec.
Dr. Jill Reckless, Chief Executive Officer of RxCelerate, stated, “At RxCelerate, we are proud to provide bespoke solutions to our clients to support any or all phases of their drug discovery and development campaigns. Through this successful project, we have continued to demonstrate our focus on generating high-quality data and delivering complex projects on schedule through collaborative and open communication with clients.
We really enjoyed working with PlaqueTec on this innovative project and hope to continue supporting its research into CAD as its BIOPATTERN trial progresses.”