Ubichem Tuberculosis Research Collaboration

Ubichem, a leading provider of services in chemistry to the drug development sector, today announced that its Hungarian operation – Ubichem Research - has become a partner in a new consortium which will undertake research towards developing new treatments for Tuberculosis. The research programme will be funded by the Hungarian Government under the Anyos Jedlik inititative, which supports innovation in the Hungarian R&D sector.

Ubichem Research will work in partnership with three other Hungarian companies. The project will focus on the identification of key enzyme targets present in mycobacterium tuberculosis which play a pivotal role in the development of drug resistance. These targets will be expressed and purified using available expression systems and then examined by crystallography. Biochemical assays will then be developed followed by compound screens in silico. Promising compounds will be optimised.

The consortium will be coordinated by Uratim and will initially be funded with a grant of approximately £1.5 million for three years. The objective is to identify potential lead drug candidates which may then be considered for further development.

Ubichem Research will provide all chemistry support to the project, including molecule design and synthesis. Its involvement in this project will allow further development of its skills in medicinal chemistry, and place it amongst the select number of companies who have experience in this particular field.