Galapagos acquires structure-based drug discovery from Sareum

28-Aug-2008 - United Kingdom

Galapagos NV and Sareum Holdings plc announced that Galapagos has acquired Sareum's assets in drug discovery services, for a total cash consideration of €695,000 (£553,000). According to the company, these assets will position Galapagos' service division BioFocus DPI strongly in the growing field of structure-based drug discovery.

A key step in drug discovery research is the identification of small molecules that bind to a drug target. In structure-based drug design, the three-dimensional structure of a drug target is used to guide the discovery of such small molecules. It is a rapidly growing segment of the drug discovery market, having generated molecules for approved drugs and numerous candidate drugs in clinical development. Sareum's structure-based approach specifically makes use of x-ray crystallography to discover chemical fragments for recombination into lead compounds. This approach has proven to accelerate drug discovery in many programs, both in its internal R&D and in services contracts with top pharma clients.

Under the agreement, Galapagos has acquired all of Sareum's ongoing services contracts relating to structure-based drug discovery, the Crystal Bank (a set of protein target structures), a fragment screening library and the specialized equipment needed to perform structure-based drug discovery. This technology will be incorporated within BioFocus DPI's capabilities in screening and medicinal chemistry, and will complement its services offering. A team of five Sareum employees will join BioFocus DPI (Chesterford Park, Saffron Walden, UK) and continue to operate the platform, securing a smooth transition of the business.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/86270/galapagos-acquires-structure-based-drug-discovery-from-sareum.html