ChemPartner Announces its Expansion into Peptide Chemistry
ShangPharma inks an Important Collaboration with Investment in Circle Pharma
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — ChemPartner is delighted to announce the expansion of its extensive CRO service offerings into peptide chemistry. This comes along with a significant investment in personnel and infrastructure, including the purchase of parallel peptide synthesis equipment and the hiring of a highly qualified peptide leader based at its new South San Francisco laboratory facility. Through this new initiative ChemPartner is able to be a true partner in therapeutic peptide drug discovery and in partnership with its other functional areas including biology, pharmacology and DMPK, ChemPartner will be able to offer a fully integrated solution in this space.
The company’s commitment to this scientific area as well as its continued focus on innovation and technology partnerships has also been excitingly cemented by a collaboration recently agreed between Circle Pharma and ShangPharma, ChemPartner’s parent company. Circle Pharma has a state of the art technology for the design and synthesis of cell permeable macrocyclic peptides which has the potential to lead to many new and innovative therapeutics, especially in the area of intracellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs). ShangPharma has made an investment in Circle and is also hosting its expansion by sharing its South San Francisco site with this innovative company. The peptide chemists at both Circle and ChemPartner will work together to develop techniques in macrocycle synthesis and ChemPartner will also provide support from its research powerhouse in Shanghai.
Michael Hui, CEO of ShangPharma said “The deal with Circle is an example of our continuing efforts to help new companies with exciting technologies in the life science space be successful. We are really excited about their plans and hope to be able to work with them in multiple different ways in the coming months as they mature and grow.”
About Circle Pharma
Founded by renowned computational chemist Prof. Matthew Jacobson (UC San Francisco) and peptide chemist Prof. Scott Lokey (UC Santa Cruz), and seed funded by Pfizer and Mission Bay Capital in 2014, Circle Pharma is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its internal development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer.
To learn more about Circle, please visit www.circlepharma.com, contact info@circlepharma.com or call +1.650.392.0363.
About ShangPharma
ShangPharma is comprised of a family of companies including ChemPartner, ShangPharma Technology, China Gateway Biologics, China Gateway Pharmaceutical Development, and ShangPharma Investment. The group is actively investing, licensing, and forming partnerships to better serve the healthcare industry. ShangPharma aims, through all its divisions, to create an ecosystem that allows close interaction between major hospitals and academic centers, by matching them with pharmas, biotech, and research institutes to enable the success of all.
About ChemPartner
ChemPartner is a leading contract research organization providing high-quality and cost-effective services for the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The company offers a broad range of integrated services across the drug discovery and development process. ChemPartner’s services consist of discovery biologics, discovery chemistry, discovery biology and preclinical development.
For more information about ShangPharma and its subsidiaries, visit www.ShangPharma.com.
CONTACT: Ms. Jin Qin, Building 5, 998 Halei Road, Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, Pudong,Shanghai, China, 201203, +86-21-5132-0220, jqin@shangpharma.com
