We provide consulting services in early-phase drug discovery, working mainly with with biotech companies. We use cutting-edge computational design methods to help clients discover novel chemical starting points, or to optimize ones they already have. We work at the interface between chemistry, biochemistry, and structural biology.
We help
- jump-start the drug discovery efforts, e.g. by finding novel chemical starting points, using virtual screening
- exploit the data from structural biology, either in-house or public domain
- overcome obstacles in drug discovery, especially in situations where the data just don't make sense.
- translate academic IP into a commercial entity
- perform due diligence on companies or their science/technology/IP
- advise on organizational matters
We also work to a limited degree with companies engaged in biofuel research, industrial catalysts, etc.
John H Van Drie , the principal of Van Drie Research, has over 20 years experience in drug discovery, having worked at Pharmacia, Vertex, Novartis, and having consulted to a variety of drug discovery organizations. As a scientist, he has contributed to teams which have discovered three marketed drugs:
- Abbott's ritonavir, the first marketed HIV protease inhibitor for AIDS infections,
- Upjohn's linezolid, for resistant gram-positive bacterial infections (now Pfizer's),
- Vertex's telaprevir, the leading drug for hepatitis C infections