New Software Generates Non-Obvious Drug Candidates

Syrris has recently announced the release of Medstere; innovative software designed specifically for medicinal chemists that suggests novel bioisosteres for a lead compound. Medstere, developed in collaboration with Cresset Group, shortens lead optimisation cycles by generating hundreds of non-obvious, drug-like alternatives to a known lead. Medstere uses the 3D surface and electrostatic properties of molecule (Fields) to assess the similarity of structurally diverse alternatives to the lead compound. This allows novel and unexpected structural scaffolds to be generated, which have similar biological activities and properties whilst avoiding conflicts with existing IP. Medstere scores the similarity of whole molecules, increasing the diversity of the results and overcoming the intrinsic pitfalls of scoring fragments only.

The easy-to-use interface quickly creates a range of potential lead molecules from initial 2D or 3D lead structures, and its smart chemistry rules ensure that results are readily synthesisable. Medstere’s comprehensive database of fragments, built from commercially available compounds, and the ability to add corporate collections, generates significant structural diversity. Results are ranked and similar replacement fragments may be clustered together to allow rapid browsing. Precise analysis of the similarity of a lead to a suggested bioisostere is possible by viewing the detailed Fields and structures side-by-side.