Trana Discovery and Southern Research Institute Announce the First RNA-RNA High Throughput Drug Screening Assay Platform for HIV ...(this novel mechanism of action. At th...),Health

At the state-of-the-art High Throughput Screening Center at Southern Research, the Trana Discovery RNA assay was adapted to the robotics platform. By using precision robotics, highly accurate low volume liquid handling devices, sensitive detectors and powerful data processing software, the HTS assay that was developed will allow researchers to quickly conduct millions of tests that identify active compounds. The data generated from a large screen like this provides the starting point for drug design and development. Using this newly validated assay, the HTS Center at Southern Research can screen 50,000 compounds per day.

"We consider the HIV HTS assay as a major breakthrough in the development of new techniques in the early-stage drug discovery and development process," said David Harris, director of Drug Discovery Business Development at Southern Research. "The addition of the tRNA assay platform adds to our service offerings that lead to the improvement of people's lives around the world."

Trana Discovery and Southern Research are currently developing other HTS assays to identity compounds that interrupt the lifecycle of bacteria, such as E.coli and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

"The development of the HTS assay validates that our technology can be adapted to the automated platforms used for high throughput screening, and signals a major step forward in its advancement," said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. The patented technology has been under extensive development at North Carolina State University. "We are now ready for the commercialization and licensing of this technology to discover new classes of compounds that will inhibit HIV via a unique mechanism of action," said Peterson.

Trana Discovery is seeking diverse collections of compounds or compounds with known bioactivity against HIV but unknown mechanism of action to identify candidates for drug development. Organiz
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