As per the agreement, Conformetrix’s technology will be applied across AstraZeneca’s pre-clinical therapeutic pipeline to enhance lead discovery and hit identification.
The technology will also be used to determine the bioactive conformations of naturally occurring ligands as templates for drug library enhancement and hit identification.
The information is expected to improve the efficiency and quality of the lead identification, lead optimization and candidate selection stages of drug discovery programs.
Under the agreement, Conformetrix will receive research funding and be eligible for milestones as certain targets are met, in addition to an undisclosed upfront payment.
The discovery program will be managed by a joint AstraZeneca-Conformetrix research team, the companies said.
Conformetrix CEO Sam Williams said: "We believe that this deal provides important validation of our technology, which improves the quality and efficiency of drug discovery, reducing the number of molecules needed to find a drug and enhancing the likelihood of clinical success."