WuXi AppTec Research Service Division and BioSolveIT Introduce GalaXi®, a Vast New Chemical Space of Tangible Molecules

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Oct 10, 2019, 10:00 ET

SHANGHAI and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts and SANKT AUGUSTIN, Germany, Oct. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- WuXi AppTec Research Service Division and BioSolveIT today launched a new virtual chemical space called GalaXi^®. Largely built from WuXi AppTec's library of novel drug-like scaffolds, GalaXi^® offers access to billions of compounds to drug discoverers around the world. Due to a carefully selected building block supply and proven chemistry, the GalaXi^® space consists of molecules that can be quickly synthesized on demand.

Novel molecular entities are in high demand to combat diseases such as cancer, bacterial and viral infections, as well as illnesses of the central nervous system. Over decades, traditional compound libraries containing millions of compounds have been collected and curated. However, many more compounds, though synthetically feasible, have traditionally been inaccessible due to physical and informatic limitations. The GalaXi^® space is a combination of WuXi AppTec's chemistry expertise and BioSolveIT's cutting edge software technologies, resulting in a chemical space housing billions of virtual molecules that can be mined within minutes and synthesized within a few weeks.

The game-changing element of this system lies in the design of a virtual chemical space that is both vast and practical in its synthetic feasibility. Navigation of GalaXi^® relies on clever algorithms that account for the chemicals and chemistry expertise to turn ideas into matter. Not only is the GalaXi^® orders of magnitude larger than traditional libraries, but also turn-around times and costs of custom synthesis are drastically reduced.

"We used to be able to screen millions of compounds in seconds, but access to billions of compounds in minutes is just amazing," said Dr. Steve Yang, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer of WuXi AppTec. "This is exactly what our clients need. The pressure on research to come up with novel ideas is indeed enormous, both in terms of time and cost. With GalaXi we take a large step forward in improving the productivity of new drug discovery and bring new medicines to patients faster."

"Indeed, our software searches billions of virtual molecules within minutes on a laptop," said Dr. Marcus Gastreich, BioSolveIT's Senior Director Application Science. "It is exciting to apply it to a tangible compound space through WuXi AppTec's vast chemistry expertise."

Dr. Christian Lemmen, CEO of BioSolveIT explained, "Traditional virtual screening methods reach their limit at about hundreds of millions of molecules, while our search technology has proven to work reliably with chemistry spaces of the size 10²⁰. That is 100 billion times the size of spaces where these other methods start to fail."

GalaXi^® will be presented to the general public during a launch event on October 10 at the Partners Healthcare Research Building in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About WuXi AppTec

WuXi AppTec provides a broad portfolio of R&D and manufacturing services that enable companies in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries worldwide to advance discoveries and deliver groundbreaking treatments to patients. As an innovation-driven and customer-focused company, WuXi AppTec helps our partners improve the productivity of advancing healthcare products through cost-effective and efficient solutions. With industry-leading capabilities such as R&D and manufacturing for small molecule drugs, cell and gene therapies, and testing for medical devices, WuXi AppTec's open-access platform is enabling more than 3,600 collaborators from over 30 countries to improve the health of those in need – and to fulfill our dream that "every drug can be made and every disease can be treated." Please visit: http://www.wuxiapptec.com

About BioSolveIT

BioSolveIT visualizes drug discovery. The highly innovative company's fast and easy-to-use software enables every chemist to advance their research. Perceptive visualization helps users to understand computational results at a glance. BioSolveIT believes in full transparency, and all the science behind their software is published. The trusted flagship platforms SeeSAR and infiniSee support research in structure-based and ligand-based drug discovery and inspire with new, vivid ideas. BioSolveIT is passionate about the needs of their customers and lives this through the discovery services that they offer. Working together with users in this way helps the organization to stay at the forefront of current research, addressing the questions that chemists are interested in right now. BioSolveIT aspires to develop software that is indispensable to drug discovery and, more importantly, software that is a pleasure to use every day. More information: https://biosolveit.de

SOURCE WuXi AppTec