UK biotech PhoreMost to work with India's CCBT on new drug targets

UK-based biotech PhoreMost has begun a collaboration with India’s Centre for Chemical Biology (CCBT) and Therapeutics, focused on novel target sights for new drugs.

Part of the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) CCBT is funded by the Department of Biotechnology, part of the Indian government.

It is a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary effort formed to pioneer innovative approaches to create chemical tools that modulate novel classes of targets.

The centre integrates biochemistry, genetics and cell biology with structural biology, computational chemistry and synthetic chemistry.

PhoreMost said it would use its next-generation phenotypic screening platform to probe the entire proteome in a live cell environment for novel druggable targets, enabling the systematic unmasking of cryptic druggable sites.

The company has built a pipeline of novel targets and early drug discovery programmes using this platform, and the new collaboration will draw on CCBT’s structural and chemical biology expertise to progress selected targets within PhoreMost’s discovery portfolio.

Based on the company's core proprietary 'Protein Interference' technology, PhoreMost’s Siteseeker technology systematically unmasks cryptic druggable sites across the entire human genome and directly links them to useful therapeutic functions in a live-cell context.

Research at inStem addresses the genetic mechanisms of potency, differentiation and proliferation in human pluripotent cells and examines clinical manifestations of diseases that can potentially be treated by stem cells.

It also models human diseases using stem cells, uses model organisms such as Planaria to address fundamental questions in regenerative biology, and develops platforms to interrogate signaling pathways with new chemical entities.

InStem also aims to develop tools that will help to better understand the biology driving stem cells and eventually treat disease states.

Dr Chris Torrance, CEO of PhoreMost, said: “Since its inception, PhoreMost’s model has been to forge a new approach to drug discovery, working collaboratively with partners in order to progress new medicines.

“We are delighted to announce this alliance with the CCBT and inStem, which represents an important milestone for PhoreMost and has enormous potential to rapidly advance new therapies.”