xGen™: Fitting of complex ligand conformational ensembles to X-ray electron density maps
Conventional ligand fitting and refinement in X-ray electron density maps relies on single conformers and B-factors, that often yields ligands…
Why does conformational flexibility matter in drug design?
What are conformational ensembles? A conformational ensemble is a collection of the different 3D shapes a molecule can adopt in…
How do I assess similarities between molecules?
What is the similarity principle? The similarity principle is one of the key concepts in drug design. It implies that…
Leveraging structure-based and ligand-based techniques in drug discovery
In our recent article in Innovations in Pharmaceutical Technology, we explore the principles, techniques, and applications of structure-based and ligand-based…
How much does 3D molecular modelling software cost?
Introduction 3D molecular modelling plays a vital role in modern drug discovery, offering powerful applications to streamline research, reduce costs,…
Optibrium Widens Access to Industry-Leading Docking Method
New PyMOL interface extends access to Optibrium’s structure-based design method Surflex-Dock CAMBRIDGE, UK, 04 February 2025 – Optibrium, a leading…
How can I model large molecules like macrocycles?
What comprises large molecules? When we talk about “large molecules,” we often think of biologics like monoclonal antibodies, proteins, and…
Optibrium demonstrates superior molecular docking method for small molecules and macrocycles
CAMBRIDGE, UK, 22 October 2024 – Optibrium, a leading developer of software and AI solutions for molecular design today announced…
Physical model induction with QuanSA™: Affinity prediction that is synergistic with simulation-based methods
The QuanSA method To define a ‘pocket field’, an initial alignment of all training molecules is constructed and function parameters…
Macrocyclic peptide optimisation: Integrating computational approaches with biophysical data
Introduction Using the integrated set of computational methods within the BioPharmics™ Platform, macrocycles can be effectively modelled for lead optimisation.…
Structure-based pose prediction: Non-cognate docking extended to macrocyclic ligands
In this paper, we describe an extended benchmark for non-cognate docking of macrocyclic ligands, and the superior performance of Surflex-Dock…
Molecular docking: Extrapolating to new scaffolds with Surflex-Dock
Interested in improving your binding mode predictions? Surflex-Dock is a unique method for molecular docking, offering automatic pipelines for ensemble docking, applicable to both small molecules and large peptidic macrocycles alike.
Macrocyclic lead optimisation
Macrocycles are becoming increasingly popular in drug discovery, due to their vast potential against previously “undruggable” targets. But the size…
From UK-2A to florylpicoxamid: active learning to identify a mimic of a macrocyclic natural product
Scaffold replacement as part of an optimisation process that requires maintenance of potency, desirable biodistribution, metabolic stability, and considerations of synthesis at very large scale is a complex challenge.
Challenges and approaches in 3D ligand-based drug design
Ann and Ajay discuss the science behind and applications of the eSim molecular similarity method, a ligand-based drug design approach which considers surface-shape, electrostatics, and directionally sensitive hydrogen-bonding when comparing two molecules.
Metabolism prediction, 3D virtual screening and more – meet StarDrop 7.5
We explore the exciting new features in the latest release of StarDrop, built to elevate your drug discovery projects. These include the all-new Metabolism module; high performance virtual screening; additional workflow improvements
Complex peptide macrocycle optimisation: combining NMR restraints with conformational analysis to guide structure-based and ligand-based design
Systematic optimisation of large macrocyclic peptide ligands is a serious challenge. Here, we describe an approach for lead optimisation using the PD-1/PD-L1 system as a retrospective example of moving from initial lead compound to clinical candidate.
Unmasking the true identity of rapamycin’s minor conformer
The solution structure of the minor conformer of rapamycin was investigated using a combination of NMR techniques and computational methods
A distributional model of bound ligand conformational strain: from small molecules to large peptidic macrocycles
We show that the distribution of expected global strain energy values is dependent on molecular size in a superlinear manner. The distribution of strain energy follows a rectified normal distribution whose mean and variance are related to conformational complexity.
