Lower Cost Drug Development With Organocatalyst

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Chemists at Oregon State University have developed a new “organocatalyst” that will play a major role in new drug development, greatly reducing costs while making the process more efficient, effective and environmentally friendly.

This catalyst, named “Hua Cat” after one of the researchers who helped create it, should soon be commercially available for use in the field of “chiral” chemistry - the basis for about 90 percent of all new drug development, and applicable to medications used in everything from heart disease to cancer. This is already a $500 million industry with rapid growth, and has been projected to surpass $5 billion within five years.

Discussions are already under way with an Oregon company for commercial production of the compound, and a major pharmaceutical brand has already expressed interest. The findings were just published in Organic Letters, a professional journal, based on work that was originally supported by the National Institutes of Health. Current support for this work has been obtained through the Organic Venture fund, a new commercialization program that chose Hua Cat as one of its first funding recipients.

Read More Here: Drug Development