Drug Discovery, Pharmaceuticals & Cannabis Testing
New peptide synthesiser revolutionises drug development cycle times
Cutting-edge Solid Phase Peptide Synthesiser (SPPS) from Vapourtec drastically shortens drug development cycles, reducing production times for target peptides from weeks to under a day compared to conventional batch methods at room temperature.
Unveiled after two years of collaborative efforts with a major global pharmaceutical company, Peptide-Pilot operates efficiently within a synthesis scale ranging from 2.0 mmol to 30.0 mmol. Utilising Vapourtec’s Variable Bed Flow Reactor (VBFR), it consistently delivers high-quality crude peptides on a large scale.
State-of-the-art peptide synthesis software, equipped with a sequence generator facilitating easy programming, including automated side-chain addition, reduces the typical reaction time for a 30-mer peptide at a 20 mmol scale to under 16 hours.
Minimising solvent and reagent usage, the Peptide-Pilot achieves solvent consumption of less than 70 ml per mmol/cycle, even with PEG resins.
Duncan Guthrie, Founder and MD of Vapourtec, highlighted the significance of this innovation, stating: “There’s been a notable surge in the development and utilisation of peptide drugs in recent years. Peptides are gaining prominence as therapeutic agents due to their unique properties, reduced toxicity,
versatility, and potential to address a myriad of medical conditions.
“Vapourtec’s technology and instruments have been used for lab scale peptide synthesis for the last 5 years, but our Peptide-Pilot represents a true revolution by dramatically reducing drug development timescales by up to 3 weeks when significant quantities of a target peptide are required.”
Dr Manuel Nuño, a key contributor to the synthesiser’s development, described the Peptide-Pilot as a ‘marvel of engineering’ and a ‘game-changer’ in peptide drug development, delivering cycle times that are a fraction of existing batch-based methods.
Designed for fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl protecting group (Fmoc) SPPS with DIC and oxyma activation, the synthesiser offers continuous in-line analytics, encompassing resin solvation and UV absorption data. The predictability of scaling up is emphasized, with a synthesis optimiszed on Vapourtec’s Peptide-Explorer at 0.1 mmol seamlessly transferable to the Peptide-Pilot at a 30 mmol scale without further development.
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ilmt.co/PL/4mv7 Next-generation gene expression kit reduces plastic waste
Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched the next-generation Invitrogen™ TaqMan™ Cells-to-CT™ Express Kit, a pioneering solution aimed at providing laboratories with a more sustainable and efficient workflow for gene expression analysis. The kit, designed for reverse transcription (RT) real-time PCR (qPCR), offers a simplified and scalable process that minimises plastic waste.
Gene expression analysis is a crucial component of research, enabling the comparison of gene expression levels across different samples. The traditional approach to RT-qPCR involves a time-consuming RNA purification step. However, the new Cells-to-CT Express Kit transforms this process by allowing researchers to move directly from cultured cells to RT-qPCR with just 5 minutes of preparation time. This not only accelerates the overall workflow but also contributes to a significant reduction in plastic waste generated during the process.
The sustainability benefits of the Cells-to-CT Express Kit are noteworthy. While a traditional RNA purification kit generates approximately 106.9 grams of plastic waste, the innovative kit produces only around 8.1 grams of waste. This represents a remarkable 92.4% reduction in plastic waste, aligning with the growing emphasis on sustainable laboratory practices.
Ellie Mahjubi, Vice President and General Manager of Sample Preparation at Thermo Fisher Scientific, highlighted the kit’s contribution to sustainability. In addition to providing a fast and streamlined workflow that yields consistent and highly sensitive results, the kit addresses the environmental impact of laboratories. Labs globally contribute to an estimated 5.5 million tons of plastic waste annually. The TaqMan Cells-to-CT Express Kit is positioned as a solution to help labs transition to more sustainable practices, aligning with Thermo Fisher’s mission to enable customers to create a healthier, cleaner, and safer world.
By combining efficiency with sustainability, the Invitrogen TaqMan Cells-to-CT Express Kit exemplifies Thermo Fisher’s commitment to advancing laboratory technologies with a focus on environmental responsibility.
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ilmt.co/PL/yzKo 61966pr@reply-direct.com AI-enhanced drug design software enters early access program
DeepMirror, a University of Cambridge spin-out, introduces its Early Access Programme for intuitive design software dedicated to discovering innovative therapeutic drugs. Following a successful closed beta program, the software enables chemists to incorporate AI, enhancing productivity and creativity in therapeutic drug discovery.
This ground-breaking product offers users AI-driven insights to refi ne and expedite molecular design across the drug discovery pipeline. The secure and user-friendly interface simplifi es AI- powered drug discovery, making it as intuitive as using a spreadsheet.
Traditionally, AI-enabled drug discovery collaborations involve extensive coordination between pharmaceutical and AI companies, resulting in prolonged waiting times and resource- intensive efforts on both ends. DeepMirror addresses this challenge by empowering R&D teams to conduct AI-driven research independently, with seamless workfl ow integration and without the need for external collaborations or signifi cant internal developments.
DeepMirror’s mission is to accelerate the drug discovery process, particularly in Hit-to-Lead and Lead Optimisation phases. The software predicts crucial properties such as drug binding, (bio-)activity, and toxicity, leveraging user data and proprietary curated databases. Laboratory results further refi ne predictions, generating novel drug candidates for experimentation and potentially expediting the drug discovery process by up to four times, as estimated by the Wellcome Trust and the Boston Consulting Group.
Dr Max Jakobs, Co-Founder and CEO of DeepMirror, stated: “Our mission is to make AI-powered drug design as simple as browsing the web. After 12 months of development and a successful beta testing programme, we are inviting researchers to use our secure and user-friendly AI platform for drug design. DeepMirror has already proven instrumental in active drug discovery programs, leading to the discovery of novel lead series and inspiring the synthesis of new compounds.”
Dr Andrew McTeague, Senior Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry at Morphic Therapeutic, , said: “DeepMirror is a huge step forward in the democratization of machine learning models and their application in drug discovery. Its user-friendly interface enables medicinal chemists of all levels to deploy this powerful approach in a fraction of the time. The ability to apply DeepMirror’s platform to any desired endpoint empowers its users to make more informed decisions faster, improving the effi ciency of our DMTA cycles.”
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/d7JK 61866pr@reply-direct.com
61897pr@reply-direct.com
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