NovAliX has announced a$6.4m investment in its DNA-encoded library (DEL) platform, which is set up as part of an eight-year technological cooperation agreement signed with a global pharmaceutical group. This agreement builds on an initial collaboration around DEL-related activities initiated in 2016.
The investment will be used to up-scale the DEL production platform; to design and synthesise highly valuable libraries using chemoinformatic tools – enabling it to better sample chemical space.
Nova-DEL is an automation and informatics driven platform for the design, production and affinity selection of DELs. It’s built on the concept of capturing and tracking the experimental information in the library synthesis and the affinity selection as it is generated. This information is used to direct laboratory instrumentation, aiming to maximise scientific productivity. Sample handling, analytical data gathering and processing tasks are automated using the system.
To support this development in its R&D capabilities, the company recently recruited medicinal chemists from a number of pharmaceutical companies. They will be tasked with spearheading the DEL-based drug discovery programs, particularly within the anti-infective and oncology fields.
“For over a decade, we have been honing our skills in chemical biology screening techniques, especially with micro-array based surface plasmon resonance, combining them with our strong in-house biophysical capabilities. Going forwards, the DEL platform will be the benchmark in our screening techniques,” said Denis Zeyer, CEO of NovAliX. “This agreement, signed with a major pharmaceutical company, enables us to enter the field with a fully-fledged and automated platform, which we now can offer to our clients.”
The company will engage in DEL-based drug discovery programs to support clients’ internal development and offer partners access to the DEL technology to create their proprietary libraries.
