Manchester research organisation launches new cost-cutting tool

Cyprotex, a contract research organisation based in Manchester, has announced the launch of a digital tool it hopes will offer cost savings to the companies using it.

The firm’s new chemPK product is a modelling solution that uses chemical structure to predict human pharmacokinetics, which is the study of a drug’s concentration in the body over a period of time based on distribution, absorption, excretion and metabolism.

As chemPK, which was created by the company’s Scientific Computing Team, is a virtual screening tool, it can be used before chemical synthesis of a molecule as an early-stage filter for directing chemistry, providing what the company has called ‘significant’ cost benefits to the user.

Cyprotex’s CEO, Dr Anthony Baxter, said: “Our new chemPK solution provides significant advantages over existing products in the market.

“It will provide our customers with an insight into the expected exposure of a molecule in the human body at an early stage, enabling them to only synthesise compounds with the best chance of success.”

The product is implemented as a series of nodes made especially for the KNIME workflow management and data analytics platform, which is widely used across the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, it can be used in both desktop and server environments, and can interact with various other modelling, cheminformatics and analytics tools.

Founded in 1999, Cyprotex operates facilities in Alderley Park and Macclesfield, in addition to two sites in the US. The company works with over 1,000 partners in the biotech, pharmaceutical, chemical personal care and cosmetics industries.