Cresset & Inocardia to Develop In Silico Cardiac Safety Assay for Drug Candidate Screening


Cressey Discovery Services and Inocardia recently announced a 1-year collaboration to develop improved computational methods for cardiac safety assessment. This collaboration also includes the University of Coventry and UCB and is supported by EIT Digital.

The collaboration builds on a successful 2019 proof-of-concept project. In this new phase, Cresset Discovery Services and their project partners will utilize Ligand-based similarity methods in Forge, docking and Electrostatic Complementarity in Flare and chemical space analysis to model key biological modes of action. The models will be used to predict biological response.

“This exciting collaboration will produce valuable and useful work,” says Dr Robert Scoffin, Cresset CEO. “In silico predictions are increasingly being used alongside time-consuming or expensive wet biological assays to create a fuller picture of the pharmacological landscape.”

“Drug-induced cardiac contractility issues are often identified too late in R&D campaigns,” says Dr Jeremy Billson, CEO at Inocardia. “Our novel assays improve early detection of cardiac safety issues and we are looking forward to extending this further using computational methods to help pharmacologists avoid expensive downstream problems.”

This activity has received funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). This body of the European Union receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

Chemists in the world’s leading research organizations use Cresset software and discovery services to discover, design and optimize the best small molecules. Our patented software and expert scientists offer unrivaled insight into protein-ligand systems, enabling chemists to accelerate their research in industry sectors, including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, fine chemicals, and flavors and fragrances. www.cresset-group.com

InoCardia provides actionable research stage cardiac safety pharmacology data to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. We utilize proprietary in vitro myocyte-based models that mimic the physiological action of the heart to deliver more relevant data. www.inocardia.co.uk