Forge Co-Founder Presents New Approaches To Treat Infections At The 255th American Chemical Society National Meeting

SAN DIEGO, March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Forge Therapeutics, Inc. (Forge), a biotechnology company developing novel medicines targeting metalloenzymes, today announced that Professor Seth Cohen, Ph.D., one of the company's scientific co-founders, presented novel therapeutic approaches for treating important bacterial and viral infections at the ACS National Meeting & Expo in New Orleans, LA. 

Oral Presentation Details

• Session: Inorganic, Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry
• Number & Title: INOR 136, A bioinorganic-inspired approach for developing inhibitors of influenza endonuclease
• Date & Time: Monday, March 19 4:30 PM
• Location: Room 354, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

Poster Presentation Details

• Session: Division of Chemical Education
• Number & Title: CHED 625, Spectroscopic studies of metallo-beta-lactamases and inhibitors with Beta-lactam antibiotics
• Date & Time: Monday, Mar 19 12:00 PM
• Location: Halls D/E, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

"The anti-infective field is in desperate need of new ways to battle infections and we believe that inhibiting specific metalloenzyme targets with innovative chemistry may be an effective novel therapeutic approach," said Prof. Seth Cohen, Ph.D., UCSD and co-founder of Forge.   

"Dr. Cohen and his lab are pioneering metalloenzyme inhibitor technology and we are proud to collaborate closely in fighting the world's toughest diseases," said Zachary A. Zimmerman, Ph.D., CEO of Forge. "This relationship is very important to us ? our platform is rooted in Dr. Cohen's research and we are pleased to have the ability to evaluate novel chemistries stemming from the lab, which will help guide our BLACKSMITH platform."

In addition to serving as one of Forge's scientific co-founders and a member of its Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Cohen is a professor and former Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).  The technology and intellectual property supporting Forge's BLACKSMITH drug discovery platform was licensed from Dr. Cohen and UCSD. 

BLACKSMITH Platform & Strategy

Forge's platform called BLACKSMITH comprises a deep knowledge of metalloenzymes, bioinorganic and medicinal chemistry know-how, and a focused fragment library of proprietary metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs) that provide selective & diverse starting points for novel inhibitors.  Our strategy is to use the BLACKSMITH platform to discover new chemical matter for the treatment of a broad range of diseases in areas of unmet needs with initial efforts in the area of infectious disease.  To date, Forge has performed several metalloenzyme screens with high hit rates providing multiple starting points to build potent selective inhibitors of metalloenzymes across a variety of therapeutic areas. 

About Forge Therapeutics

At Forge Therapeutics, we are developing medicines targeting metal-dependent enzymes found in nature.  Over 30% of known enzymes are metalloenzymes covering all major enzymes classes:  oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases.  Metal ions, including magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, calcium, cobalt, and copper are the essential ingredient in these metalloenzymes.  At Forge, we are the BLACKSMITHS of modern medicine, providing the tools to address any metalloenzyme challenge.

Forge's lead effort is focused on LpxC, a zinc metalloenzyme found only in Gram-negative bacteria and which is essential for bacteria to grow.  Forge has a strategic alliance with leading drug discovery alliance and development partnership company Evotec AG and has been awarded multiple government awards including CARB-X.  In addition, Forge has amassed a rich intellectual property estate on metalloprotein inhibitors to protect its BLACKSMITH platform and pipeline including technology licensed from UCSD. For further information, please visit the company's website www.ForgeTherapeutics.com and follow us on Twitter @ForgeThera.

Forge Company Contact:
[email protected]

Forge Media Contact:
Amy Conrad
Juniper Point
[email protected]
858-366-3243

SOURCE Forge Therapeutics, Inc.