December 2009, Biodesy is awarded a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation
Biodesy will develop its conformation-specific inhibitors further and obtain NMR images of these inhibitors bound to alpha-synuclein, a therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease.
September 2009, Biodesy develops a label-free conformational detection platform based on SHG
July 2009, Biodesy validates its SHG technology and Artemis(TM) by identifying allosteric compounds against a Parkinson's target
Biodesy identifies conformation-specific inhibitors of monomeric alpha-synuclein, a therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease.
April 2009, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) publishes an article on Biodesy's technology [view]
March 2009, Biodesy has developed a research screening instrument which can be placed with universities and companies
Artemis(TM)is capable of reading 1000-1500 compounds per day using templated microscope slides. Suitable for focused and fragment library screens and basic research.
October 2008, Biodesy publishes a paper on the sensitivity of SHG using a site-specific label [view]
SHG or SFG can be used with appropriate, site-specific labels to detect subtle structural shifts.
August 2008, Biodesy is awarded a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation
Biodesy will screen for conformation modulators of monomeric alpha-synuclein, a therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease.
April 2008, Biodesy signs contract with European pharma company
The project involves compound validation studies and several integrin receptors.
March 2008, Biodesy unveils its screening services.
A variety of services is now available for discovering compounds that modulate a target's conformational change.
February 2008, Dr. Salafsky is invited to speak at SBS, the industry conference of the year on the panel 'Hit Identification in the Next Decade'.
The title of his talk is 'Second-harmonic generation (SHG) for identifying allosteric and conformation-specific compounds'.
November 2007, Biodesy discovers first known second-harmonic-active unnatural amino acid
Such unnatural amino acids could be used as innate structural probes of biomolecules on surfaces, eliminating the need for exogenous labels and permitting detection at both surface and interior sites.
October 2007, Scientist hired on the Yale faculty to use SFG (sum-frequency generation) and Biodesy's approach to study protein conformational change
September 2007, Conformational change of alpha-synuclein detected
Biodesy's second-harmonic generation (SHG) technology detects an important change in the conformation of alpha-synuclein from a compact structure to a fully open one. This transition, previously identified by NMR, is thought to be a critical first step in the aggregation of alpha-synuclein. Aggregation of alpha-synuclein has been linked to Parkinson's disease progression. Biodesy intends to use its SHG assay to identify small molecules that lock the protein in the compact and innocuous conformation.
July 2007, Rapid Response Innovation Award from the Michael J. Fox Foundation
Biodesy was awarded a grant from the MJFF to develop an assay for conformational change in alpha-synuclein. Abnormal aggregation of alpha-synuclein has been proposed as one possible mechanism of Parkinson's disease. A change in conformation of the protein, from a �closed� to an �open� structure, has been previously identified as a precursor to aggregation. Biodesy�s assay, based on second-harmonic generation (SHG), could be used for large-scale screening to discover inhibitors that prevent this conformational change from occurring. Such inhibitors could be developed into potential therapeutics for Parkinson�s disease.
April 2007, Breakthrough Integrin assay developed
For the first time, discover inhibitors that prevent activation of an integrin. The general assay was validated with avb3 integrin, which is expressed at a high level on the surface of metastatic cells in breast cancer tumors.
October 2006, SBIR grant awarded for Integrin drug discovery
Biodesy was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The grant was awarded to further Biodesy’s development and commercialization of its second-harmonic generation technology to enable detection of conformational change and drug screening of integrin proteins.
Integrin receptors are critical cell surface proteins involved in cell-cell communication and adhesion. They are particularly important in tumor progression, such as angiogenesis and tumor cell metastasis. Inhibitors of integrin receptors can be effective anti-cancer agents because they can prevent cell adhesion and abolish integrin functions, which are critical for cancer cells to survive and spread in the body. SHG will be used to measure shifts in conformation of the receptor from the inactive to active conformation. This capability, in turn, will facilitate the discovery of novel small molecules that bind to the bent conformation of the integrin receptor to prevent activation.
August 2005, SBIR grant awarded for real-time detection of conformational change in GPCRs
Biodesy was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The grant from the National Institutes of Health was awarded to further Biodesy’s development and commercialization of its second-harmonic generation technology to enable detection of conformational change and drug screening of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).
Biodesy’s technology will be applied to GPCRs to enable discovery of allosteric inhibitors, compounds that modulate the physiological response of GPCRs by inducing conformational changes in them by binding to sites that are different from those where the native ligand binds. The annual market for GPCR drugs is more than $30 billion, and more than 60% of the top-selling drugs are targeted to GPCRs, making this the largest pharmaceutical segment.
