Narrow Results

The spread of dengue fever has resulted in several deaths for which no drug is currently efficacious. A potential target for the development of an antiviral drug that prevents conformational changes and interferes with membrane fusion is the Dengue $\beta$-OG binding pocket. This study aimed to identify potential natural product leads with the propensity to inhibit the envelope protein. Three known inhibitors (DV2419-447, NITD449 and Doxycycline) and 43,465 compounds compiled from naturally derived product libraries comprising AfroDb, NANPDB and TCMID were screened against the envelope protein’s energy-minimized structure as an integrated library. After the molecular docking studies involving 7200 prefiltered compounds and three known inhibitors using AutoDock Vina, 620 top-identified hits were physiochemically and pharmacologically profiled using SwissADME. Compared with reported potent inhibitors, the lead compounds were shown to have better binding affinities greater than −8.6 kcal/mol. Four predicted lead compounds comprising ZINC000014721518, ZINC000005195832, ZINC000014819293 and ZINC000004102396 were identified to interact with Thr48, Leu198 and Gln49, which are critical residues in the inhibition of membrane fusion. All the potential leads were predicted to be antiviral and membrane permeability inhibitors with Pa > 0.300 and Pa > 0.500, respectively. ZINC000014756860, ZINC000014819293 and ZINC000003871358 were predicted to be viral entry inhibitors. Structurally similar compounds have been shown to inhibit Dengue virus (DENV) replication. In-depth molecular dynamics simulations, including MM/PBSA computations, further substantiated the protein–ligand complexes’ stability and favorable binding mechanisms with residues Leu198, Ile270, Thr48 and Phe193. Further experimental evaluation is needed to understand their role in inhibiting DENV viral entry.

A novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 is causing the severe acute pneumonia (COVID-19) and rapid spread nationally and internationally, resulting in a major global health emergency. Chinese governments and scientists have implemented a series of rigorous measures and scientific research to prevent and control the SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, there is still no specific antiviral drug or vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. It has been proven that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) exerts an important role in the prevention and treatment of the COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 during the outbreak. Although the therapeutic effects of these TCM formulas are attractive, the molecular mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated. An emerging strategy of systems pharmacology has been proposed to be a promising method to interpret drug action in complex biological systems and quickly screen out the bioactive compounds from TCM to treat treatment of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, in this study, the epidemiology, TCM therapy, and the systems pharmacology-based method for TCM are reviewed for COVID-19 to provide a perspective for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further efforts should be made to reduce disease burden and improve the ability to design antiviral drugs and vaccines, which will benefit the health care system, economic development and even social stability.

Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) are powerful tools used to investigate protein-ligand interactions. Molecular docking programs predict the binding pose and affinity of a protein-ligand complex, while MD can be used to incorporate flexibility into docking calculations and gain further information on the kinetics and stability of the protein-ligand bond. This review covers state-of-the-art methods of using molecular docking and MD to explore protein-ligand interactions, with emphasis on application to drug discovery. We also call for further research on combining common molecular docking and MD methods.

Recently, poly-pharmacy persistence has greatly improved in treating multiple diseases effectively. However, determining potential drug–drug interaction (DDIs) during the drug design is critical for controlling the target clinical drug during secure testing. In the medical field, DDIs are significant for disease diagnosis and treatment, mainly aiding researchers in predicting the link between biomolecules for efficient drug discovery (DD). Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently witnessed researchers accurately predict DDIs at minimum time consumption. Although the AI models show accurate results by aiding physicians to determine poly-pharmacy, several unresolvable issues remain in promoting reliability due to high error, complexity and cost-effectiveness. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review using AI techniques (machine learning (ML)–deep learning (DL) models) and security enhancement techniques to improve DDI prediction and DD, respectively. The recent state of DDI prediction and the security concerns are presented initially, along with a short discussion about the need for effective techniques. Then, the critical evaluation related to existing studies is analyzed and compared to current issues faced in those existing studies. Various pharmaceutical drugs and their pros are also surveyed in addition to the security analysis for the newly invented drugs. Several assessment measures for the surveyed techniques are also conquered and put forth the need for advancements in future techniques effectively. The performance variations produced by the existing studies are also surveyed, and their use in the medical industry is also provided in this review study. The review of this research encourages the researchers to analyze the various issues faced in the pharmaceutical industry so that a novel technique can be introduced in the upcoming studies.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) documented about 100,000 formulae during past 2500 years. To use and customize them by modern pharmaceutical industry, we make an interdisciplinary effort to study the activity of new drug research and development (R&D) in TCM by introducing data mining approaches to it. We used the migraine formulae as a training set to investigate the possibility of developing new prescription by means of data mining. The activity of new drug R&D of TCM consists of two steps. The first step is to discover new prescriptions (candidates for drugs) from migraine formulae. We present an unsupervised clustering approach based on data mining theory to address the problem in the first step and automatically discover ten new prescriptions from the formulae data. The second step is to develop and optimize the prescriptions discovered by current biomedical approaches. Since Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort (LCH), a kind of herb, is often used to treat migraine and appears in the new prescriptions, we use it as an example and apply supervised regression method based on data mining theory to study the drug R&D activity of TCM. We revised two linear regression methods in order to establish the nonlinear association between three chemical ingredients of LCH and corresponding pharmacological activity and used it to predict the activities. The association is validated by in vitro experiments and we found that the experimental results are consistent with the prediction. Unsupervised clustering and supervised regression cover most part of data mining theory, which means that data mining approaches play a crucial role in new drug R&D in TCM and present a better solution to establish the platform of drug R&D in TCM.

Agilent Technologies Introduces Industry’s Most Comprehensive Human Genome Microarray Set for Drug Discovery and Disease Research.

The article discusses on what the Hong Kong government are doing to boost biomedical investments. It touches briefly on the biotechnology market and Hong Kong government policy for Innovation and Technology. It also includes some examples of biotech companies.

The article is about the use of software in the Singapore biomed research industry.

Drug Discovery in China.

Pharmaceutical Industrial Partnering Trends in India.

EvoGenix Collaborates with GlaxoSmithKline for Milestone Achievement.

3SBio Announces Addition to Product Portfolio.

BASF Builds Two New Manufacturing Plants in China.

Beijing Med-Pharm to Acquire Shanghai Rongheng Co Ltd.

Bridgetech Launches Advanced Circulating Tumor CellSearch System.

Biocon Sets up Research Facility for Bristol-Myers Squibb.

INC Research Signs Joint Venture with GVK Biosciences to Offer Full Drug Development Services.

Torrent to Acquire Merck's US$2 Billion Generics Unit.

Zydus Cadila Acquires Liva Healthcare.

China Biopharma Enters Distribution Agreement with Takeda.

Eisai to Acquire Morphotek for US$325 Million Focusing on Therapeutic Antibodies.

Japan's Bioventures Today — Ribomic Inc.

Precision Collaborates with NanoString to Co-Develop Laboratory Instrument.

Medivas Signs License Agreement with Protheon for Avian flu Vaccine.

Eli Lilly Expands Drug Discovery Efforts in Singapore.

Lonza and Bio*One Capital Invests in Second Manufacturing Plant in Singapore.

Genetech Sets Up Manufacturing Facility in Singapore.

MerLion Collaborates with Merck Banyu for New Drug Discovery Alliance.

The article deals with WuXi's background, business and products.

Progen Expands Drug Development Pipeline through Acquisition of CellGate.

Morphotek Announces Collaborative Research Agreement with Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

Crucell Enters Agreement with Sanofi Pasteur for Biologicals against Rabies.

Cellworks Announces Drug Discovery Collaboration with Orchid Based on Systems Biology Technology.

ILS Partners with Wistar.

CardioDynamics International Corporation (CDIC) Announces Strategic Alliance with Leading Medical Equipment Manufacturer in India.

Biocon and IATRICa Partner to Develop Novel Immunoconjugate Therapeutics against Cancer and Infectious Diseases.

GSK Launches 2 DTP Vaccines in India.

BIOBASE Opens New Subsidiary Nihon BIOBASE KK in Yokohama.

Invitrogen Enters into a Licensing Agreement with IMBcom.

Stem Cell Sciences Enters into an Agreement with Myelin Repair Foundation.

European Company NovaSecta Joins First Chinese CRO Service Alliance for Drug Discovery Solutions.

DuPont (DD) Opens Fluoropolymer Production Plant in China.

Satyam Opens Center to Cater to Life Sciences Industry.

Eisai and Accenture Launch Clinical Data Management in India.

Sanofi Pasteur and Statens Serum Institute Team Up against Tuberculosis.

Roche Diagnostics and Mankind Pharma Collaborate on Accu-Chek Go.

Nicholas Unit Signs Drug Development Pact with Eli Lilly & Co.

Pierre Fabre and Nicholas Piramal Sign Oncology Research Agreement.

Fortis HealthWorld Works with Godrej Aadhaar to Reach Out to Rural Areas in India.

Karo Bio and Zydus Cadila Sign Research Agreement.

ICGEB Joins with Emory Vaccine Center.

DiscoveRx Corporation Signs Agreement with Cosmo Bio.

Sysmex and bioMérieux Form Commercial Joint Venture for the Japanese In Vitro Diagnostics Market.

Progeniq Launches Next-generation BioBoost v4.0 Accelerator.

Celltrion and CSL Announce Collaboration to Develop and Manufacture Monoclonal Antibody.

Antitope Ltd Announces Research Agreement with China Synthetic Rubber Corporation.

Merck and DCB Announce Cooperation to Create New Biotech Services and Training Center.

Taiwan's PharmaEssentia Signs Deal with Malaysia's Black Gold Global.

Anadis Licenses Antibody Technologies from ImmuCell

Abbott, Genentech and WEHI Collaborate to Discover New Anticancer Drugs

Living Cell Technologies and Barbara Davis Center Collaborate on Diabetes Clinical Trial Program

Avexa and Monogram Collaborate on HIV Drug

ChemGenex Launches Multi-site Omacetaxine Clinical Trial in AML Patients

Philips and Ascent Profit Deliver Digital Radiography Systems to China

OSI Systems Opens New Manufacturing Facility in China

MedPlus Launches Integrated Health Centers in India

Ranbaxy to Introduce INERSAN Brand in India and Nepal

Teleradiology Solutions Launches First Teleradiology Training Center in India

StemCyte Announces Joint Venture with Apollo Hospitals and Cadila Pharmaceuticals

Suven Life in Drug Research Deal with Eli Lilly

Dr Reddy's Enters into Drug Discovery Collaboration with 7TM Pharma

MorphoSys and Astellas to Develop Novel Antibody Therapies

Morphotek Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement for Anticancer Antibody

bioMérieux and Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation Enter into Long-term Strategic Partnership

Kyowa Hakko and Amgen Enter into a Licensing Agreement for Anti-CCR4 Humanized Monoclonal Antibody

Stem Cell Therapy to Merge with Histostem

GlaxoSmithKline Opens New Research and Development Pilot Plant

CytoGenix and Taiwan Cobia Inc to Develop DNA Vaccines for Fish Viruses

World's First Early Stage Diagnostic Test for Ovarian Cancer

U.S. FDA Approves Bone Marrow Transplant Trial Using Proprietary Cell Therapy

Invitrogen Launches Microarray to Study Non-Coding RNA

Griffith University and Pfizer Collaborate to Unlock Nature's Cure for Drug Discovery

NeoStem to Enter the Regenerative Medicine Market in Asia

Debiopharm, Aurigene Sign Pact for Development of Debio 0617

Genzyme and ICGEB to Advance Treatments for Neglected Diseases

U.S. and Japanese Pharmas Forge Strategic Development Deal

A Go Green Collaboration Turning Wild Algae into Biofuels

Rockeby Biomed Awarded Grants for Influenza and Bird Flu Research

From Mind to Market, IBN's New Real-Time PCR System to be Manufactured Exclusively by MP Biomedicals

Assay Designs Signs Agreement with Abnova of Taiwan

Alchemia Collaborates on SK1.

Progen Technology Switches On Cancer Fighting Genes.

New Australian Drug Holds Hope of Major Breakthrough in Treating Terminal Blood Cancers.

Novavax and Cadila Pharmaceuticals Form Alliance.

Icon's Singapore, India Labs Get CAP Accreditation.

SIRO Clinpharm and Advanced Clinical Trial Solutions Form Strategic Alliance.

GVK Forays into Clinical Trials with Chinese Company.

iZumi Bio and Kyoto University Collaborate on iPS Cell Technology.

Vitrolife Starts a Company in Japan.

Otsuka, BMS in an Oncology Collaboration.

EnVivo, Mitsubishi to Develop Schizophrenia Drug.

PerkinElmer Announces Collaboration with Sangmyung University.

Living Cell Technologies's New Zealand Pigs Free of Viruses.

A*STAR Joins Forces with Swiss Company, Cytos, to Combat HFMD.

IBN Engineers World's First Tri-Continuous Mesoporous Silica.

Innogene Kalbiotech Pte Ltd and Info Kinetics Sdn. Bhd. Spearhead Establishment of Internationally Accredited BA/BE Studies in Indonesia.

MDI and Integrated Sciences Enter Exclusive Distribution Agreement in Australia.

Agenix, IMB to Develop Hep B Drug in China.

NeoStem to Acquire Progenitor Cell Therapy in $20m Deal.

Origin Biotechnology Reaches Worldwide Agreement with Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for Bt-gene.

Transasia Bio-Medicals Acquires Pliva Lachema Diagnostika.

Advinus Team Discovers Novel Molecule for Treatment of Diabetes.

Biocon Partners with Teleradiology Solutions.

Abbott, Reata Pharma Collaborate on Kidney Treatment.

Phylogica Commences Antimicrobial Peptide Discovery under Agreement with MedImmune.

Leadtec Systems Australia to Acquire Mimotopes.

Sirnaomics Seals Deal for Development of RNAi Therapeutics in China.

Simcere and Bristol-Myers Squibb Enter Innovative Partnership to Develop Early-Stage Oncology Compound.

Pfizer, Biocon in $350 Million Insulin Pact.

Bharat Biotech Announces Launch of 'HNVAC™' India's First Cell-Culture H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine.

Cipla Launches the World's First Generic Pirfenidone in India, Giving Hope to Sufferers of IPF (Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis).

Eisai and FORMA Therapeutics Enter into Broad Drug Discovery Collaboration.

Philips and Atom Medical Corporation Announce Strategic Alliance to Provide a Complete Neonatal and Perinatal Offering.

CiRA and France-based Cellectis Enter Collaboration.

Immunovaccine Signs Research Agreement with OncoTherapy Science to Advance Potential Cancer Vaccine.

Glycos Biotechnologies Enters Definitive Agreement with Malaysian Bio-XCell.

Biocon Plans to Invest $161m in Malaysia to Set Up R&D Unit.

ImmunGene Announces Multi-Target R&D Collaboration with Cephalon Australia for Interferon Payload Technology.

Ironwood, Protagonist Collaborate on Peptide Drug Discovery.

First China Pharma Announces Agreement with Medisan.

Vapi Products Industries, Vertellus Form Indian JV to Manufacture and Distribute Specialty Chemicals.

ReproCELL to Enter Collaborative iPS Cell-derived Hepatocytes R&D Agreement with NIBIO.

TriReme Medical Announces Japanese Alliance.

Sime Darby, Mitsui to Collaborate on Bioethanol Plant.

MerLion Signs License Agreement with Alcon to Develop and Commercialize Novel Finafloxacin Otic Product.

PPD Establishes Joint Venture for Drug Discovery of Large Molecules.

The clinical application of stem cells in hematopoietic disease.

Use of pluripotent stem cells and their differentiated products in pharmacological drug discovery and safety testing.

Messages from the nucleus: Insights into Aging.

inStem: The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.