Professor James Watson Stresses Need for Innovation in Drug Discovery and Development

Cambridge Combinatorial's world-class combinatorial chemistry facilities designed to speed drug discovery and design were today (Wednesday, 17 June) formally opened by Nobel Prize Winning Scientist, Professor James Watson.

Opening the state-of-the-art laboratories at the Merrifield Centre in Cambridge, Professor Watson, President of the renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, New York, who, with others, was responsible for the landmark discovery of the double helical structure of DNA, spoke of the need for continued innovation in medicine discovery and development into the next Millennium.

Welcoming guests from the international pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries, Dr. Allan Marchington, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Founder of Cambridge Combinatorial said: "Our sole focus is on providing our partners with the expertise, skills, technology and facilities to greatly accelerate the drug and compound discovery process. Our custom built laboratories with their integrated range of platform combinatorial robotics are among the most advanced in the World, and will be at the forefront of drug and compound discovery and development into the new Millennium.

"We are already collaborating with several of the World's major pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies and today, I am particularly pleased to announce, that we have reached an agreement with Rohm and Haas, a leading speciality chemicals company, to extend its discovery programmes".

Dr. Marchington concluded saying: "Today's opening is another significant step towards Cambridge Combinatorial achieving its aim of becoming the World's leading synthetic chemistry services provider, not only in combinatorial chemistry but also in drug discovery and drug process research. The industry faces an exciting and challenging future in which Cambridge Combinatorial and its partners together will, I am sure, play a key part".

Cambridge Combinatorial's approach to the provision of combinatorial chemistry services are characterised by:

• Extensive industrial experience of combinatorial and medicinal chemistry ensuring that its design and synthesis translate into leads with drug-like qualities;
• A world-renowned scientific advisory broad providing partners with access to expertise, novel chemistries and new disease targets of some of the world's leading academic institutions;
• Access to the Company's proprietary SPARC™ chemical synthesis technology and novel robotics for more efficient combinatorial synthesis;
• A fully integrated range of platform combinatorial robotics housed in custom built laboratories;
• A gateway to fully integrated molecular design and cheminformatics with access to the computational chemistry, molecular design expertise and proprietary software of the Oxford Molecular Group, a sister company to Cambridge Combinatorial.

For further information, please contact:
David Phillips, Vice President, Business Development, Cambridge Combinatorial
Tel: 01223 722400 (UK)

Ian Bailey or Leigh Sharpe, Square Mile Communications
Tel: 0171 583 4567

Notes to editors

Oxford Molecular
Oxford Molecular provides a full range of software tools for use in the drug discovery process. Working alone or with other applications, the company's programmes allow the researcher to conduct a full range of investigations, from gene discovery to small-molecule studies. Oxford Molecular's unique approach to products is aimed at streamlining and accelerating drug discovery by providing software tools that facilitate communication among scientists working at each stage of the drug discovery process.