2nd research accord for Graffinity and Mutabilis

Heidelberg, Germany-based Graffinity, says that it has entered into its second research collaboration with Mutabilis, a French drug discovery company, to develop novel therapeutics for infectious diseases. The firms have already collaborated on an anti-infective drug target in 2003, and Mutabilis has decided to return to Graffinity for the screening and identification of small molecule compounds against a number of key targets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mutabilis will provide target proteins identified to Graffinity, which will apply its proprietary RAISE (Rapid Affinity Instructed Structure Evolution) technology and drug-fragment chemical microarrays to identify and evolve small-molecule hit structures with a focus on compounds with novel modes of action. Graffinity will receive a technology access fee and a milestone payment upon conclusion of the collaboration.

"We have been extremely pleased with how well Graffinity's RAISE technology has worked for us in the past," stated Sonia Escaich, chief executive of Mutabilis. "The collaboration gives us the opportunity to identify the compound-modulating activity of our proprietary targets, at a speed that could not be achieved elsewhere," she added.