4SC and PACT complete virtual HTP drug screening pilot

Through a combination of 4SC's proprietary virtual-high-throughput technology and PACT's XPU microprocessor technology, the alliance contends it has been able to increase the speed of computer

By Editor on May 17, 2001

Through a combination of 4SC's proprietary virtual-high-throughput technology and PACT's XPU microprocessor technology, the alliance contends it has been able to increase the speed of computer aided drug screening by a factor of 50. The two companies are currently negotiating and designing the next steps in their collaboration.

Using algorithms to predict biological activity, 4SC's virtual-high-throughput technology allows the rapid selection of promising drug candidates against various diseases from a large database of small molecules. In the pilot study, the integration of PACT's super computing capabilities, in combination with certain elements of 4SC's virtual screening techniques, has shown an acceleration in algorithm processing by an order of magnitude compared to traditional computer technology. The group predicts this advance may lead to a significant increase in the speed at which new drugs are discovered.

"We are delighted about the striking success of this interdisciplinary pilot study combining cutting-edge technology in life sciences and super computing," said Daniel Vitt, CSO of 4SC. "Applying these combined technologies to drug design can potentially reduce time and costs and increase the success associated in developing lead candidates."

PACT's XPU technology is part of a multi-parallel microprocessor architecture that runs at speeds of more than 51 billion instructions per second (BIPS). This is achieved by directly and physically mapping algorithms into hardware allowing the maximum speed for processing.

In contrast to classical processors, according to PACT, all nodes calculate simultaneously in a pipeline. In addition, the PACT technology architecture eliminates the instruction flow overhead and instruction caches needed in conventional processors and DSPs, allowing more of the available silicon resources to be used for true calculation.

According to the alliance partners, due to the point-to-point connections of processing elements, explicitly programmed data moves are no longer needed. The collaborators believe this new processor architecture will base its application area on typical coprocessor applications and will advance to replace sequential architectures, where extreme processing power is needed.

"We are proud to have demonstrated the applicability of our microprocessor platform to this specific life science area and are hopeful that it has led to a break through in this very fast growing biotech area," said Eckardt Bihler, CEO of PACT. "As our knowledge of the interaction of drugs with the body increases, so does the need to be able to process this information in a rational and time-efficient manner. We are confident that our technology will help in the understanding of these important biological interactions."