Axxam SpA and Xenome Limited have entered a research collaboration agreement to combine Xenome’s expertise in peptide chemistry and peptide drug development with Axxam’s know-how in target biology, assay development and high-throughput screening with a view to the discovery and development of novel GPCR modulators.
Under the agreement, Axxam will screen Xenome’s proprietary xventure (TM) peptide library against five undisclosed GPCR targets in therapeutic areas including pain, obesity and ophthalmology. Xenome will optimize promising ‘hits’ resulting from the screening program in order to develop lead molecules suitable for pre-clinical development.
The xventure (TM) library is a proprietary collection of more than 5500 synthetic peptides that have been designed to mimic the structural motifs of bioactive peptides found in venoms. Central to the library is a novel molecular scaffold that was developed with the aim of producing drug candidates with the efficacy and specificity of peptides as well as the size and stability of smaller molecules. The library represents significant structural and chemical diversity and is suitable for high throughput screening as well as quick and efficient optimization based on Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) analysis.
Xenome will have the right to commercialize products arising from the collaboration with both companies sharing the financial outcomes. Financial terms of the agreement remain confidential.

Dompé farmaceutici SpA and Axxam SpA announced today the renewal of the existing research collaboration for the discovery and development of novel drugs based on GPCRs and ion channel targets. Scientists from both companies will continue their joint programs for the drug discovery process in relevant disease areas. Steps in the process include target biology, target-based screening, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and preclinical and clinical development. Dompé will bring expertise in the field of medicinal chemistry, oriented to the rational drug design of small molecular weight GPCRs modulators and in the pre-clinical and clinical development of innovative drugs. Axxam will contribute its expertise in lead discovery programs, based on a long experience in target biology, assay development, a careful selected large compound collection and high-throughput screening with high relevance for the discovery of modulators for GPCRs and ion channels. The number of disease targets, associated therapeutic areas and financial terms of the research collaboration are not disclosed by the companies.

CyBio AG (www.cybio-ag.com), a worldwide leading life science company, and Axxam SpA, a leading discovery company, announce that they have developed, installed and fully validated a new state-of-the-art screening station to be used by Axxam in running hit discovery campaigns with automated luminescence and fluorescence screening systems.
The new workstation, which will run in parallel to another CyBio workstation, is a customized, multi-functional automation platform that allows flexible adaptation to different assay conditions using high-density 384 plates.
A central CyBi®-Well vario high parallel pipetting system unites two major working areas. Cooled storage system, peeler, sealer and plate heating stations frame the area for compound management. The screening area not only consists of a pipetting system, a dispenser, a washer, high-capacity stacking and incubation devices with lid handling options, but also of two readers, a FLIPRTETRA (Molecular Device) and a PHERAstarPlus (BMG Labtech). They can be used to acquire fluorescent or luminescent readouts, both in cell-based or biochemical assays.
All modules are integrated by a Stäubli 6-axis robot and a KiNEDx 4-axis robot that ensure high speed and precision in plate transfers. The system as a whole is controlled by the CyBio® Scheduler software that manages automatic parallelization of processes, consistent system utilization and time uniformity across screening.
This results in very high consistency in assay performance and in a throughput that ranges from 35,000 for long acquisition-time readings to 47,000 test points per day.
Axxam will benefit from broader access to automated high throughput screening (uHTS) and will consolidate its leading position as an important discovery partner for target-based screening discovery programs.

InterMed Discovery (IMD), an emerging world class natural product lead-discovery company, and Axxam, a leading discovery company, are pleased to announce that their joint research efforts have proved to be successful in providing a technology platform that offers, in addition to screening solutions, the discovery of natural bioactive compounds. These bioactive compounds are particularly valuable to companies in the food, beverages, flavour and fragrance industries.
Based on these results, both companies have therefore signed a second partnership agreement to further combine the expert platforms of IMD and Axxam. The combined technology platform offers an integrated approach to the screening, discovery and profiling of innovative natural sources-derived functional ingredients for various life science applications.
The joint research will focus on the mutual discovery and validation of Flavour/Fragrance functional ingredients, which will then be offered to food, beverages, flavour and fragrance companies. The proprietary compounds that are discovered will have clearly defined activity profiles and naturally-derived chemical properties, making them much more valuable to the customers wishing to utilize them.