Astex publishes data on allosteric modulator discoveries

Astex Pharmaceuticals has announced the publication of data pertaining to the discovery of a pair of novel allosteric modulators using its fragment-based drug discovery platform Pyramid.

The first of these studies, which appeared in the NatureChemical Biology journal, describes the discovery of a novel allosteric pocket situated between the protease and helicase domains of the NS3 protein.

This protein is a key therapeutic target in the treatment of hepatitis C, with a drug candidate from this programme set to commence clinical trials next year.

Meanwhile, in the second Nature-published study, the Pyramid platform was used to discover an allosteric pocket on the tumour metabolism target PKM2, thus elucidating the role of serine on the function of this key cancer target.

Dr Harren Jhoti, president and director of Astex Pharmaceuticals, said: "We continue to develop the fragment-discovery platform to address more intractable drug targets, not only allosteric pockets but also protein-protein interactions, in our drive to develop new medicines for patients."

This comes after the announcement at the end of last month that the European Commission has approved Dacogen, an acute myeloid leukaemia therapy that was co-developed by Astex and will be marketed by Janssen in the EU.