Roche, AstraZeneca launch consortium

Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) and AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) launched a consortium to share data related to optimizing drug design. The pharmas will contribute databases of compound properties from experiments across a range of indications. Information about the specific compound structures will be kept confidential.

MedChemica Ltd. (Newcastle-under-Lyme, U.K.), which was created by former AZ scientists and provides drug design services, will manage the consortium. MedChemica will use a computational chemistry tool to identify modifications made to compound structures to create "drug design rules" that companies can then apply to other compounds to improve metabolism, pharmacokinetics or safety. ...