CARLSBAD, Calif., March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Ontogen Discovery Systems, a
subsidiary of Ontogen Corporation, today presented new findings on
OntoCHROM(R), its semi-preparative scale supercritical fluid chromatography
(SFC) system, including its benefits over existing high performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC). The presentation, given at Pittcon 2002, covered chromatographic performance of high-throughput compound purification methods,
compatibility with drug-like classes of compounds, and unequivocal benefits of
SFC-based approaches in drug discovery processes by the elimination of false
positives.
The ability of OntoCHROM to successfully purify compound libraries using less than 20 ml of organic solvent per sample, 90% less than conventional HPLC
requirements, were among the findings presented at the meeting. Additionally,
significant improvements in high throughput screening (HTS) outcomes as a direct result of using OntoCHROM were highlighted. Results presented led to
the compelling conclusion that OntoCHROM technology is a practical alternative
to HPLC for high throughput purification of compound libraries. "OntoCHROM is an industry-leading system that provides high-throughput
semi-preparative purification of chemical libraries at a rate of 250 compounds
per eight hour day and purity of up to 100% with minimal solvent requirements
and significant reduction in hazardous waste disposal," said Cyrus K. Mirsaidi, executive director, Ontogen Discovery Systems. "The
combination of SFC methodology and UV-triggered, mass-directed collection provides real-time, dynamic decision making power on the collection of
compounds with different molecular weights in the same run, which is impossible to perform with conventional HPLC systems. OntoCHROM will enable
Ontogen Discovery Systems' key partners significant, unique and unrivaled advantages in their drug discovery programs, with greater efficiency and lower
costs than HPLC."
About OntoCHROM
OntoCHROM uses supercritical CO2 as the mobile phase and UV-triggered, mass-directed fraction collection, as opposed to more conventional systems
using mass confirmation as the only source of target identification. OntoCHROM's fully automated, four-channel system allows simultaneous
purification of four 96-well plates, with direct well-to-well mapping of the
desired product (positively identified by mass spectrometry) in the target
plate and concomitant collection of other, potentially interesting UV-absorbing molecules in a separate "by-product" plate. OntoCHROM reduces
the occurrence of false positives and false negatives obtained during HTS,
thereby minimizing the number of re-syntheses necessary to confirm biological
activity. Ontogen Discovery Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ontogen, provides
industry-leading solutions to improve drug discovery efficiency and alleviate
traditional bottlenecks in chemical synthesis, compound analysis, high-throughput biological screening, and data analysis. Its development
capabilities are differentiated and strengthened in part by proprietary drug
discovery systems -- OntoBLOCK(TM) (compound library synthesis) and OntoCHROM -- that have fostered a drug discovery and optimization process that
is significantly faster than traditional methods with higher quality data and
dramatically lower R&D expenditures. The Company has headquarters in Carlsbad, California, and is privately held. For more information about
Ontogen Discovery Systems, visit Ontogen's web site at http://www.ontogen.com .
SOURCE Ontogen Discovery Systems -0- 03/21/2002
CONTACT: media, Wendy Emanuel, +1-760-930-0100 x3077, or mobile, +1-773-255-9580, or investors, Cyrus K. Mirsaidi, +1-760-930-0100 x3182, or
mobile, +1-949-510-2121, both of Ontogen/ /Web site: http://www.ontogen.com
