Kate Gunning
About Kate Gunning
Posts by Kate Gunning:
Fragment- and Structure-based Drug Discovery for Developing Therapeutic Agents Targeting the DNA Damage Response
Prog Biophys Mol Biol, Aug 2021
June 2021: Accelero Biostructures Selected for Company Presentation and Inclusion in the NIH Innovation Zone at BIO 2021
Accelero Biostructures at BIO Digital 2021
June 2021, San Francisco, CA: Accelero Biostructures announced today that it has been selected to deliver a company presentation and participate in the NIH Innovation Zone, at 2021 BIO Digital, the premier biotech event. BIO Digital is scheduled June 10-11 & 14-18, 2021.
Debanu Das, Co-Founder & CEO, will present the company’s ABS-OneStep technology. ABS-OneStep is the next-generation platform for hit generation in early drug discovery to develop novel therapeutics using a fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) approach. Fragment library screening with ABS-OneStep resolves key bottlenecks in conventional FBDD approaches. ABS-OneStep provides an extremely sensitive, efficient, experimental, single-step approach for interrogating diverse chemical space and determining hits and their 3D structures using ultra high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography for library screening. The company presentation will be available to registered attendees at 9 am ET June 10.
Attendees at BIO Digital will be able to view the Accelero Biostructures Company Presentation before live meetings in the BIO One-on-One Partnering™ system begin on June 14.
About Accelero Biostructures
San Francisco-based Accelero Biostructures (accelerobio.com) was founded in 2015 to capitalize on over 20 years of structural genomics and structural biology expertise using high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography with the ABS-Services and ABS-OneStep platforms. ABS-Services provides a unified pipeline of protein X-ray crystallography solutions aimed at the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to support structure-based drug discovery and protein engineering. ABS-OneStep is the next-generation platform for hit generation in early drug discovery to develop novel therapeutics using a fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) approach. Fragment library screening with ABS-OneStep resolves key bottlenecks in conventional FBDD approaches. ABS-OneStep provides an extremely sensitive, efficient, experimental, single-step approach for determining fragment hits and their 3D structures using high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography.
About BIO
BIO is the world’s largest advocacy organization representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. Subscribe to Good Day BIO.
December 2020: XPose Therapeutics and Accelero Biostructures announce Joint Research Collaboration for the Discovery and Development of Novel Cancer Therapies
SAN CARLOS, Calif. December 22, 2020 — XPose Therapeutics, Inc. (XPose) is excited to announce research agreements spanning multiple DNA Damage Response (DDR) targets for drug discovery using Accelero Biostructures, Inc. (Accelero) novel ABS-OneStep platform for hit generation and Accelero’s
ABS-Services for iterative structure-guided optimization, both using high-throughput protein X-ray
crystallography. ABS-OneStep handles fragment library screening directly by crystallography using the ABS-Real fragment library.
XPose will solely own and control all chemical matter IP arising out of these programs and will also assume advanced development of the resulting compounds. These agreements will deliver on the XPose strategy to start with experimentally confirmed poses of molecular fragments and small molecules bound to DDR targets in 3D X-ray crystal structures, which will be unlocked by Accelero’s platforms, which empirically sample vast and novel chemical space.
“Hits generated by the ABS-OneStep engine and iterative crystallography-guided molecular optimization using the ABS-Services platform is really speeding up our early drug discovery and development with significant breakthroughs,” said Matthew Duncton, PhD, Co-Founder & VP of Medicinal Chemistry at XPose, which also recently received non-dilutive grant funding for its lead program.
“Our valuable and dynamic partnership with XPose will allow us to utilize our ABS-OneStep platform to discover novel chemical matter to modulate validated DDR targets for new therapeutics,” said Debanu Das, Ph.D., Accelero Co-Founder and CEO. “After testing and validating ABS-OneStep on many diverse protein targets, we are now very excited to deploy our platform for the needs of XPose,” said Ashley Deacon, Ph.D., Accelero Co-Founder and CSO.
About Accelero:
San Francisco Bay Area-based Accelero Biostructures (accelerobio.com) was founded in 2015 to capitalize on over 20 years of structural genomics and structural biology expertise using high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography with the ABS-Services and ABS-OneStep platforms. ABS-Services provides a unified pipeline of protein X-ray crystallography solutions aimed at the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to support structure-based drug discovery and protein engineering. ABS-OneStep is the next-generation platform for hit generation in early drug discovery to develop novel therapeutics using a fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) approach. Fragment library screening with ABS-OneStep resolves key bottlenecks in conventional FBDD approaches. ABS-OneStep provides an extremely sensitive, efficient, experimental, single-step approach for determining fragment hits and their 3D structures using high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography.
About XPose
San Francisco Bay Area-based XPose Therapeutics was founded in Fall 2019 by seasoned scientists, entrepreneurs, and professionals in drug discovery, structural biology, chemistry, and target biology to leverage a cutting-edge approach using experimental information on 3D protein-ligand interactions as a starting point to discover and develop target-specific small molecule cancer therapeutics for undruggable targets. XPose is focused on DNA Damage Response (DDR) proteins and their demonstrated roles in cancer. The compounds we discover and develop can be deployed in a multi-pronged approach across two modalities: monotherapy involving enzyme inhibition, synthetic lethality or targeted-protein degradation; and combination therapy with other genotoxins and cytostatics, thereby providing a significantly large therapeutic landscape to help a wide variety of patients.
July 2020: Accelero Biostructures Partners with Mid-Atlantic BioTherapeutics to develop Pan-Coronavirus Inhibitors; Receives NIH Funding to Support the Research
DOYLESTOWN, PA. and SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Accelero Biostructures (Accelero) and Mid-Atlantic BioTherapeutics (MABT) are pleased to announce our research collaboration to discover and develop novel coronavirus inhibitors for a broad range of coronaviruses (“pan-coronavirus inhibitors”). Accelero will use its novel and proprietary ABS-OneStepTM platform for high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography-based fragment screening as the hit generation engine for drug discovery. MABT will perform virologic testing and will also assume advanced development of the resulting compounds. In addition, the companies announced today that Accelero has been awarded additional funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the discovery phase of this collaboration.
“Our partnership with MABT, and the funding support from NIH, will allow us to utilize our ABS-OneStepTM platform to discover novel chemical matter that targets both the current SARS-CoV-2, as well as potential future coronaviruses, given that COVID-19 is the third coronavirus pandemic or epidemic outbreak in the last 20 years”, said Debanu Das, Ph.D., Accelero Co-Founder and CEO. “After testing and validating ABS-OneStepTM on multiple diverse protein targets, we are now very excited to deploy our platform at this time of global need for novel anti-COVID-19 drug discovery,” said Ashley Deacon, Ph.D., Accelero Co-Founder and CSO. MABT CEO David Horn, M.D. commented that “There is a clear unmet need for new treatments for this novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and our goal with this exciting collaboration with Accelero is to leverage their expertise and powerful ABS-OneStepTM platform to discover and develop novel inhibitors that will be broadly effective against SARS-CoV-2 and future SARS strains that will surely emerge.”
About Accelero Accelero Biostructures (accelerobio.com) was founded in 2015 to capitalize on over 20 years of structural genomics and structural biology expertise using high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography with the ABS ServicesTM and ABS-OneStepTM platforms. ABS-ServicesTM provides a unified pipeline of protein X-ray crystallography solutions aimed at the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to support structure-based drug discovery and protein engineering. ABS-OneStepTM is the next-generation platform for hit generation in early drug discovery to develop novel therapeutics using a fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) approach. Fragment library screening with ABS-OneStepTM resolves key bottlenecks in conventional FBDD approaches. ABS-OneStepTM provides an extremely sensitive, efficient, experimental, single-step approach for determining fragment hits and their 3D structures using high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography.
About MABT Mid-Atlantic BioTherapeutics (MABT; mid-atlanticbio.com) was founded in 2011 with the mission of eradicating terrible infectious diseases using a novel, patented technology platform called IMT504. IMT504 harnesses the body’s own immune response to fight off infections that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to treat. IMT504 has shown impressive results in animal safety and efficacy models, and in humans. In addition, MABT continues to explore other treatment options for infectious diseases, including small molecule and antibody approaches.
Disclaimer
Development of the ABS-OneStepTM platform for high-throughput protein X-ray crystallography-based fragment screening has been supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number R43TR001736, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH under Award Number R44GM132796, to Accelero Biostructures Inc. The additional funding from the NIH to Accelero Biostructures Inc. to support the discovery phase of this collaboration is also under Award Number R44GM132796. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
March 2019: Accelero Biostructures, Inc. expedites structure determinations for groundbreaking research expanding the DNA alphabet from 4 to 8 building blocks
San Francisco: March 2019
Accelero Biostructures, Inc., expedited structure determinations and provided rapid, high-quality macromolecular crystallography data collection and processing on crystals of protein-DNA complexes of Hachimoji DNA that double the DNA alphabet with implications for life in the universe and DNA storage. The groundbreaking research was published in Science, February 22nd, 2019.
DNA and RNA are naturally composed of four nucleotide bases that form hydrogen bonds in order to pair. Hoshika et al. added an additional four synthetic nucleotides to produce an eight-letter genetic code and generate so-called Hachimoji DNA. Coupled with an engineered T7 RNA polymerase, this expanded DNA alphabet could be transcribed into RNA. Thus, new forms of DNA that add information density to genetic biopolymers can be generated that may be useful for future synthetic biological applications.
According to the New York Times, Hachimoji DNA could have many applications, including a far more durable way to store digital data that could last for centuries. It also raises a profound question about the nature of life elsewhere in the universe, offering the possibility that the four-base DNA we are familiar with may not be the only chemistry that could support life.
The structure determinations were expedited by Accelero Biostructures, cofounded by Dr. Debanu Das, a former graduate student of Dr. Georgiadis, and Dr. Ashley Deacon, who provided rapid, high-quality macromolecular crystallography data collection and processing on crystals of the protein-DNA complexes. The crystal structures provided 3D proof that Hachimoji DNA assembles duplex DNA retaining essential features of natural DNA while imparting novel sequence specific features conferred by the novel synthetic base pairs.
Dr. Debanu Das, CEO of Accelero Biosciences commenting on the company’s role said “We were honored to contribute to this monumental discovery and to validate this pioneering work with our platform – it’s a powerful tool for structure determination”.
September 2018: Accelero Biostructures, Inc. expands operations to MBC Biolabs
San Francisco: Sept 2018
Accelero Biostructures, Inc., today announced the move and expansion of their services to meet the needs of their growing customer base. The company has recently relocated to a larger facility and been accepted into the MBC BioLabs community after a competitive evaluation. MBS Biolabs is a community of scientists and innovators and provides operational and facility support to growing bio focused companies.
Accelero Biostructures also joined the California Life Science Association – a non-profit association representing California’s life sciences industry. CLSA aims to advances California’s world-leading life sciences innovation ecosystem by advocating for effective national, state and local public policies and supporting entrepreneurs and life sciences businesses.