SilcsBio and Dalriada to tap areas of expertise in drug design and development to accelerate clients’ programs in development of therapeutic treatments against diseases with unmet needs, initiated with COVID-19
June 11, 2020, Baltimore, MD and Toronto, ON – SilcsBio, a technology company that develops innovative software and provides services for structure-based drug design, and Dalriada Drug Discovery, a full service small molecule drug discovery contract research organization supporting global innovators through its TURN-KEY™ model, today announced the launch of a formal partnership to enable enhanced support for their clients’ programs.
Under the new partnership, SilcsBio’s expertise in computer-aided drug design (CADD) will be vertically integrated with Dalriada’s world-class wet-lab drug discovery capabilities accelerating clients’ target-directed programs. Through close work between the two expert scientific teams and integration of CADD, medicinal chemistry, target screening, and ADME, clients can expect accelerated hit identification, lead generation, and lead optimization cycles.
The first collaboration of this partnership will focus on generating streamlined drug discovery services addressing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SilcsBio will leverage its proprietary CADD platform technology, SILCS, coupled with machine learning in conjunction with Dalriada’s capabilities in establishing custom screening assays to enable rapid implementation of drug discovery workflows for our clients and in response to emerging diseases, such as COVID-19. The SILCS technology generates “FragMaps”, which provide a detailed affinity map of the entire protein surface and identify particular cavities that might be available for drug design and guide end-to-end drug design efforts. Dalriada, through its Turn-Key Drug Discovery services model, provides a full suite of drug discovery and medicinal chemistry services for semi-virtual, lean biotechnology clients who focus on developing small molecule therapies.
“In the midst of the current pandemic, our new partnership with Dalriada couldn’t be timelier,” said Ken Malone, CEO of SilcsBio. “Pairing up our SILCS technology and expert biology and chemistry services with the Dalriada team’s elite drug design services and methods will help accelerate drug development for companies around the world for a diverse range of therapeutic targets, including novel treatments for COVID-19.”
“We’re delighted to partner with SilcsBio to strengthen and complement our combined abilities in identifying and optimizing novel small molecule drugs with our clients” said Diana Kraskouskaya, co-founder and CEO of Dalriada. “In doing so we are building the most robust workflows and effective solution for the global drug discovery work”
About Dalriada:
Dalriada, through its TURN-KEY™ Drug Discovery services model, provides a full suite of drug discovery, medicinal chemistry and intellectual property services for semi-virtual, lean biotechnology clients who focus on developing small molecule therapies. With R&D operations in Mississauga, Canada, Dalriada builds focused teams with expertise in MedChem, Biology and ADME to allow for the most rapid and cost-effective project execution and value building. One of the company’s niche expertise is in the development of novel covalent therapeutics for which Dalriada developed a proprietary screening platform, spearheaded by the CSO and co-founder, Dr. Patrick Gunning.
About SilcsBio:
SilcsBio, launched in Baltimore, MD in 2013, provides commercial software and consultative services for structure-based drug design from target mapping to lead optimization for customers in the US, Europe, the UK, and Japan. SilcsBio’s proprietary technology, including SILCS, SSFEP, and the CGenFF program, is based on licensed intellectual property developed by Dr. Alex MacKerell at the University of Maryland, Baltimore where he is the Grollman-Glick Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Computer-Aided Drug Design Center. Learn more: www.silcsbio.com