Astex Therapeutics extends collaboration with CCDC

Astex Therapeutics has announced an extension of its ten-year research collaboration with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC).

The newly-extended partnership will continue to leverage Astex's expertise in the field of protein-ligand docking to aid in the development of Gold, the leading docking software offering of CCDC.

Astex will also provide input into CCDC's other software programmes for use in drug development projects, while it will also continue to benefit from the use of Gold as a key component of its fragment-based drug discovery platform Pyramid.

Both companies hailed the success of this collaboration thus far, with Gold having been independently verified as a leading docking package.

Dr Chris Murray, vice-president of discovery technology at Astex, said: "The collaboration extension enables us to continue in the development of cutting-edge docking and virtual screening methodology."

Last month, it was announced that Astex Therapeutics is to be acquired by the oncology-focused pharmaceutical company SuperGen.