Structural GenomiX Inc (SGX) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc have formed a collaboration agreement to utilize high throughput structural information to improve the productivity of drug discovery. Millennium will utilize SGX's structure determination platform to advance multiple targets through drug discovery more rapidly and effectively.

Using its genomics-driven structure determination and chemistry platform, SGX will generate large-scale structural information for Millennium drug targets, providing Millennium scientists access to hundreds of structures and enabling them to select lead compounds rationally by designing drugs with greater potency, selectivity and specificity. The collaboration will focus on two critical areas of research; the first using structural information of Millennium targets and co-crystallization with lead compounds, the second using further structural analysis of certain target families, including determination of proteins that are closely related to the drug targets, to provide improved selectivity information for lead optimization.

It is expected that early stage access to this scope of structural data will significantly shorten the time from validated target to early development candidate. In addition, Millennium expects this information to lead to compounds that will be more suitable for development, resulting in lower attrition rates and increased productivity.

Under the terms of the agreement, SGX retains certain rights to use structural information of non-proprietary targets on its own behalf, and SGX will have the opportunity to choose a validated drug target from a range of Millennium validated drug targets for its own drug discovery programs. In addition, Millennium will make an equity investment in SGX.