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Meet Dr Andrew Pannifer – Head of Cheminformatics

What team do you work in, and what does this team do? I work in the Cheminformatics team with Anna, Charlie, and Kepa. The role of our team is to use the massive amounts of chemical, biochemical, protein, and chemical structural data out there to help answer questions that drug discovery organisations encounter: Are there […]

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The value of computational chemistry

With the increasing pressure to drive efficiencies in the drug discovery process, innovative approaches using computational chemistry are delivering proven results, particularly in the areas of lead identification and optimisation. However, maintaining an in-house team is often a luxury and there is an increasing trend to outsource computational chemistry in order to benefit from the […]

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What is Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS)?

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease in which pathogenic autoantibodies cause development of clots, strokes and/or recurrent miscarriages. APS is the main cause of strokes in people under 50 years old and a major cause of pregnancy loss. Treatment options for APS are very limited. Importantly corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs are not effective in […]

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Using Electron Microscopy (EM) in drug discovery

Why Electron Microscopy? 88% of the 210 drugs granted FDA approval between 2010 and 2016 were informed by structural biology. Traditionally structural biology has been underpinned by X-ray crystallography and to a lesser extent NMR. However, significant improvements in the field of Electron Microscopy (EM) has provided a powerful approach to studying protein structure. Traditionally […]

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Infiltrating the blood-brain barrier

The role of the blood brain barrier By nature, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was designed to protect the brain and the central nervous system (CNS) from toxins, inflammation, injury and disease. The barrier is made up of highly specialised cells that strictly regulate the movement of molecules into the brain, only allowing essential nutrients and […]

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Orphan drug review

In the previous article, we established the procedural aspects of EU Orphan Drug Designation. Now let’s look at what elements of orphan disease applications require a more detailed review by COMP (Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products). Prevalence of the disease This definition is quite clear, but it’s important to understand how the terms of classification […]

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Orphan drug development

Rare diseases in the European Union Increased awareness of rare diseases and a favourable investment environment for orphan drug development represent opportunities for academic research and SMEs. To convert this potential into patient benefits, research impact and financial revenue it is essential to understand this topic in-depth and navigate pivotal regulatory processes, such as the […]

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Techniques in kinase profiling

The role of kinases in human disease is well known in the drug discovery world, making them significant therapeutic intervention points. There are over 500 known kinases in the human kinome and over 150 are mutated or misregulated in various disease states. However, developing a selective kinase inhibitor can be both challenging and time consuming. […]

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Engaging with the innovators of tomorrow

At Medicines Discovery Catapult we like to collaborate and help young data scientists get into pharma. “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks.” – Jeff Hammerbacher That’s why we have partnered with University of Sheffield Data Analytics MSc. Providing a project and dataset that will […]

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