BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH
Businesswire | March 29, 2023
Simulations Plus, Inc. a leading provider of modeling and simulation software and services for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy, today announced that it established a strategic research collaboration with the Sino-American Cancer Foundation (SACF). This collaboration will leverage Simulations Plus’ staff and Artificial Intelligence-driven Drug Design technology in the ADMET Predictor® software platform to support the discovery and design of novel inhibitors of methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2), an emerging cancer target.
Per the terms of the collaboration, Simulations Plus will develop quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models for efficacy against MTHFD2, using information from SACF as well as academic and patent literature. The biologists, computational and medicinal chemists in the Early Drug Discovery Services team at Simulations Plus will work with the researchers at SACF to define the multi-objective parameters against which the lead molecule(s) will be optimized. The new AIDD Module in ADMET Predictor® will then be employed to generate libraries of virtual compounds that are optimized for potency and other chosen parameters. The teams will select promising candidates for synthesis and testing, and ensuing rounds of QSAR model building and AIDD optimization will be performed until the milestone criteria in the collaboration agreement are achieved.
“We value the trust and confidence SACF has in our team and AI technology to complement and accelerate conventional drug design and lead optimization processes,” said Dr. Jeremy Jones, Principal Scientist at Simulations Plus and project lead. “By combining their drug discovery expertise with our algorithmic and data science know-how, we are confident we will successfully support their hit-to-lead target development activities.”
As part of this agreement, SACF will provide upfront funding to Simulations Plus to design a set number of compounds for efficacy against MTHFD2 which will be exclusive to SACF. Subsequent milestone payments will be made as key research and development goals are met.
“SACF has had an active interest in AI for de novo design for some time, and we have found a trusted partner in Simulations Plus to help us integrate this into our research,” added Dr. Frank Luh, CEO of SACF. “Scientists from the two organizations will work side-by-side to combine SACF’s data with all that Simulations Plus offers to identify the next generation of compounds that could help in the treatment of cancer.”
John DiBella, SLP Division President, said, “The Early Drug Discovery Services offering at Simulations Plus is tailor made for this type of partnership, where our team of experts, including computational, medicinal, and cheminformatics specialists, provide end-to-end AI-driven drug discovery and optimization support to complement the SACF team. Simulations Plus continues to invite future collaborations which benefit organizations and, most importantly, the global communities we serve.”
About Simulations Plus, Inc.
Serving clients worldwide for more than 25 years, Simulations Plus is a leading provider in the biosimulation market providing software and consulting services supporting drug discovery, development, research, and regulatory submissions. We offer solutions that bridge machine learning, physiologically based pharmacokinetics, quantitative systems pharmacology/toxicology, and population PK/PD modeling approaches. Our technology is licensed and applied by major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and regulatory agencies worldwide.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH
businesswire | April 19, 2023
Simulations Plus, Inc. a leading provider of modeling and simulation software and services for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy, announced that the U.S. FDA has renewed its licenses to the DILIsym® software platform, the flagship quantitative systems toxicology (QST) software for predicting and investigating drug-induced liver injury (DILI). The one-year renewal provides continued access to DILIsym software for authorized FDA employees across all FDA divisions.
Dr. Paul B. Watkins, chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the DILI-sim Initiative, commented, “The FDA’s renewal of these licenses endorses the value of DILIsym software in both predicting liver safety liabilities and defining the underlying mechanisms, which are critical to evaluating risk. The recent signing of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 by President Biden, which encourages the FDA to limit animal use in drug development, should be a positive catalyst for greater utilization of DILIsym software in drug development. In my role as Chair of the SAB, I am very excited about the direction of the public-private partnership that is guiding further development of the DILIsym platform that will benefit many key stakeholders.”
Dr. Brett A. Howell, President of the DILIsym Services division at Simulations Plus, added, “Given the effect of rising costs on providing vital healthcare, the use of novel simulation technologies to improve the efficiency of drug development is more critical than ever. An important first step is ensuring that regulatory agencies have the most advanced technology tools to fulfill their essential mission. We are delighted the FDA has opted to renew once again and will continue using DILIsym and other Simulations Plus tools to enable reviews and enhance regulatory science.”
DILIsym software results support crucial drug development decisions by predicting potential DILI risk of new drug candidates. The modeling also identifies the biochemical events that lead to DILI caused by a drug and can thereby predict certain subgroups of patients at increased risk for DILI from that drug. The information from DILIsym modeling serves to help guide go/no-go decisions on major drug development projects, potentially avoiding the disastrous financial effects of failed clinical trials, or better, providing assurances that DILI will not be an insurmountable obstacle to regulatory approval. For the past 13 years, DILIsym Services, a division of Simulations Plus, has coordinated the DILI-sim Initiative, which is a public-private partnership that has guided development of the DILIsym software package. DILIsym is available to the pharmaceutical and chemical industries for direct use to predict and understand liabilities via membership in the DILI-sim Initiative consortium and/or commercial licenses. The DILIsym Services division also routinely uses DILIsym for comprehensive consulting services on safety-related issues.
Companies interested in a free trial version of the DILIsym software can request it here.
About Simulations Plus
Serving clients worldwide for more than 25 years, Simulations Plus is a leading provider in the biosimulation market providing software and consulting services supporting drug discovery, development, research, and regulatory submissions. We offer solutions that bridge artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning, physiologically based pharmacokinetics, quantitative systems pharmacology/toxicology, and population PK/PD modeling approaches. Our technology is licensed and applied by major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and regulatory agencies worldwide.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH
Prnewswire | April 13, 2023
Flexan LLC announced that it is expanding its services to include custom manufacturing of sterile liquids and custom formulated solutions for a variety of medical device applications. Flexan is partnering with its parent company, ILC Dover, and its KSE Scientific division to expand offerings to its medical device customers. KSE Scientific provides standard and custom formulations and packaging while following the most stringent quality standards. The company is FDA registered for medical devices and 510(k) for sterile water and saline. With over 50,000L of Water for Injection (WFI) production capacity per day and more than 113,000 square feet of manufacturing, controlled storage, and laboratory space, KSE Scientific is ready to solve customers' challenges for sterile liquids.
Recently, both Flexan and KSE Scientific partnered to deliver a custom solution and packaging service to Clyra Medical Technologies.
"Clyra is pleased to find a high-quality partner under one roof in KSE Scientific and Flexan, to support manufacturing for our best-in-class wound management and surgical product 'Bioclynse'. Bioclynse is 510(k) cleared by the FDA, and is an efficacious, safe, long-acting wound irrigation solution that can be used during wound management, during surgery and for post-surgical wounds, with no need to rinse out throughout the entire procedure," said Steve Harrison, CEO of Clyra Medical Technologies. "We look forward to working with KSE Scientific and Flexan to support solution manufacturing and developing customized packaging and components to ensure we meet the market demand and customer requirements for delivering our solutions."
"Flexan serves a broad range customers in the medical device market and we are excited to expand our services to include custom sterile fluids for various clinical applications. In addition to adding sterile fluids, we are also excited to share that we are now offering platinum-cured silicone tubing, tubing assemblies and molded components to better serve ILC's biopharmaceutical customers worldwide," said Tony Gonzalez, President of Flexan.
About ILC Dover
ILC Dover is a world-leader in the innovative design and production of solutions for biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, medical device markets as well as a leading supplier for the (aero)space industries. Our customers will attest to our relentless dedication to high value products, advanced technology, and responsive service, as our visionary solutions have improved efficiency while safeguarding people, product, and infrastructure in hazardous conditions through flexible protective solutions since 1947.
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