De Novo launches major upgrade to its in silico drug design platform
De Novo Pharmaceuticals, a specialist in computational drug design, has launched Reflex, a major upgrade to its leading in silico drug design platform, SkelGen.
De Novo Pharmaceuticals, a specialist in computational drug design, has launched Reflex, a major upgrade to its leading in silico drug design platform, SkelGen.
When designing small molecule candidate drugs, Reflex enables SkelGen to take into account the rotational flexibility of amino acids in the target enzyme active site. This capability significantly improves the platform's versatility and performance, says the company.
SkelGen, De Novo's automated drug design programme, can perform rotational changes 'on-the-fly' whilst novel ligands are constructed within the target active site. The significance of this development is that SkelGen can now explore the continuously changing shapes of the cavity within the active site of a target enzyme, more closely mimicking the dynamics of real-life protein-ligand interactions.
Philip Dean, ceo of De Novo, said: 'Our drug discovery partners are seeking rapid ways to find novel and active hit molecules for their protein targets and SkelGen has already proved it can deliver. The addition of Reflex to the platform is an important innovation that will keep us well ahead of the competition.'