NEWS

2022.10.04

Veritas In Silico Begins RNase-Recruiting Small Molecule Screening for RIBOTAC Design and Synthesis

Tokyo, Japan, October 4, 2022 –Veritas In Silico Inc., developing mRNA-targeted small molecules, announced today that it has entered into the agreement with Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners, Inc. to establish a screening system of ribonuclease-recruiting small molecules, with the aim of expanding its business to the drug discovery of RIBOTAC, a ribonuclease-targeting chimera in which a ribonuclease-recruiting small molecule is combined with an RNA-binding small molecule.

In response to the growing interest in small molecule drug discovery targeting mRNA, Veritas In Silico provides platform technology, “ibVIS,” composed of a series of drug discovery technologies necessary for small molecules targeting mRNA, ranging from the discovery of compounds that bind to target mRNAs using its proprietary RNA structural analysis and high-throughput screening (HTS) technologies such as MobyDick, an RNA structural analysis technology, and the quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer (qFRET) method, to the discovery of drug candidate compounds through the structural optimization process. Veritas In Silico is already collaborating with several pharmaceutical companies on small molecule drug discovery utilizing “ibVIS” and has identified several mRNA-binding compounds that show mRNA knockdown activity at the cellular level.
Attempts have begun to design and synthesize “RIBOTACs” that specifically bind to and efficiently cleave the target mRNAs, in addition to the conventional drug discovery approach in which the knockdown effect of mRNA-binding compounds is enhanced through structure-based drug design (SBDD).

Under the terms of the agreement, Axcelead DDP will establish a screening system utilizing its own compound library to obtain a set of compounds that recruit specific RNases designated by Veritas In Silico.

By incorporating “RIBOTAC” technology into the “ibVIS,” Veritas In Silico will enhance its strengths to meet the wide-ranging needs and requirements of pharmaceutical companies that aim to promote small molecule drug discovery targeting mRNA. Veritas In Silico is also developing a plan of proposing the design and synthesis of “RIBOTAC” to pharmaceutical companies that already have RNA-binding compounds.

About Veritas In Silico Inc.
Location : 1-11-1 Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0031, Japan
Establishment : November 2016
Representative: Shingo Nakamura, Representative Director, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Business description: Veritas In Silico is a platform biotech company with headquarters in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and laboratories in Kanagawa and Niigata, Japan, dedicated to the creation of mRNA-targeted small molecules and antisense oligonucleotides. Since its establishment in 2016, the company has conducted collaborative drug discovery research with Japanese pharmaceutical companies using its proprietary mRNA-targeted drug discovery platform, “ibVIS,” and currently corresponding projects are underway.
Through “ibVIS,” Veritas In Silico provides pharmaceutical companies with a series of innovative platform technologies required for mRNA-targeted drug discovery, including RNA structural analysis, quantitative screening of RNA-binding small molecules, experimental techniques for measuring binding of small molecules to target RNA structures, and SBDD based on 3D structural analysis of RNA-small molecule complexes and molecular orbital calculations. For more information, please visit https://www.veritasinsilico.com/en/.

About Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners, Inc.
Location: 2-26-1, Muraoka-Higashi, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-0012, Japan
Establishment: July 2017
Representative: Yoshinori Ikeura, President, and Representative Director
Business description: Launched in July 2017, Axcelead DDP is Japan’s first integrated drug discovery solutions provider, having taken over the drug discovery capabilities of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. The company provides integrated services, from the discovery of drug targets to the optimization of small- and medium-molecule drug candidates, in which the company has particular expertise. Axcelead DDP also helps bridge the gap to clinical development. For more information, please visit https://www.axcelead.com/en/.

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Veritas In Silico Begins RNase-Recruiting Small Molecule Screening for RIBOTAC design and synthesis (PDF)