Schrödinger, Inc., a privately-held company dedicated to revolutionizing drug discovery through advanced computational methods, announced today that it has established a collaboration with Canada’s national Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), to develop novel immuno-oncology monoclonal antibodies and other cancer biologics. CDRD will provide a portfolio of targeted antibodies and Schrödinger will apply its advanced computation platform in order to prioritize these drug candidates and otherwise accelerate discovery. The initial project will involve an immune checkpoint target that is present on cancer stem cells.
“We’re excited to work with CDRD to aggressively translate scientific discoveries into innovative therapeutic products,” said Dr. Ramy Farid, Schrödinger’s President and CEO. “This partnership is an important step forward in our efforts to extend the successes we’ve had in small molecule drug discovery to the development of novel biologics.”
Schrödinger will support hit triage, prioritization through prediction of physico-chemical liabilities, and antibody humanization. CDRD will provide a portfolio of targeted antibodies for undisclosed oncology indications, as well as accompanying key molecular and physico-chemical lab measurements. The British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) will also provide critical biological data for the initial cancer stem cell project.
“Schrödinger is the leader in applying in silico modeling to small molecule drug discovery, and we are excited to be a part of this unique collaboration leveraging those capabilities to speed biologics discovery,” said Gordon C. McCauley, CDRD’s President and CEO. “This collaboration also highlights our partnership with BCCA and our collaborative approaches as we work to advance groundbreaking cancer research from bench to bedside.”
