They will share their perspective of taking a fundamental concept in materials and biological science and bringing that concept forward through research, and ultimately achieving commercialization of a new product, says Hunt. Many of the speakers have started their own companies or are on the boards of multiple start-up companies, she notes.
ARTICLE #1 EMBARGOED FOR: Sunday, Aug. 19, 1:00 p.m., Eastern Time
CONTACT:
Charmayne Marsh (c_marsh@acs.org)
Michael Bernstein (m_bernstein@acs.org)
617-954-3488 (Boston, Aug. 19-23)
202-872-4400 (Washington, D.C.)
ARTICLE #2 EMBARGOED FOR: Sunday, Aug. 19, 2:45 p.m., Eastern Time
Computers help chemists fight emerging infections
Computer analysis of existing drugs may be key to fighting new infectious agents and antibiotic-resistant pathogens like deadly tuberculosis strains and staph superbugs, according to researchers in Canada. The use of such emergency discovery technology could save time, money and lives during a sudden outbreak or a bioterrorism attack, the scientists said.
Drug repurposing or reprofiling is not new: Pharmaceutical companies have been seeking new uses of old drugs to extend patent protections and whenever new, off-label uses of the drugs are found. But reprofiling to deliberately develop emergency drugs is a new concept, made possible by advances in chemoinformatics, a new field that merges chemistry with computer science, according to Artem Cherkasov and colleagues.
In the case of new infectious threats, there might be no time to develop a completely new drug from the ground up, as the corresponding toxicological studies and regulatory investigations will take year
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| Contact: Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 202-872-4400 American Chemical Society Source:Eurekalert |