Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) says it has completed an FTO-targeted drug discovery program at Monash University's Fragment Platform.
The company said the program used fragment-based screening by NMR to identify 39 molecular candidates that specifically bind to the m6A RNA demethylase protein, FTO.
These confirmed FTO-binding chemical scaffolds provide a platform for developing novel and patentable molecules that can potentially become new drugs targeting the m6A RNA epigenetic pathway.
The loss of control of RNA epigenetics is a crucial driver of several metabolic diseases and many cancers.
Race's vice president of research, Professsor Mike Kelso, said, "Identification of chemical 'hits' that bind to a protein target of interest is a critical step in modern drug discovery. Our successful FTO program at Monash provides Race with valuable new IP in the RNA epigenetics space, an enormously exciting area at the cutting-edge of oncology research and drug development."
