NEW YORK, March 20-Genome Therapeutics said today that it had chosen a compound series to optimize as part of its anti-ulcer research and development partnership with AstraZeneca.
The companies chose the compounds through genomic screening combined with biochemical and microbiological analysis.
Genome Therapeutics has sequenced the genome of Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium associated with peptic ulcers, and has used that knowledge to identify genes and develop assays that will improve research into new anti-ulcer treatments.
In 1995, the company struck a $23 million alliance with AstraZeneca. The two firms have collaborated on projects to determine genetic variability and new potential drug targets in H. pylori.
H. pylori, a common bacterial pathogen that lives in the stomach and gastric tract, has been linked to gastritis, ulcers, and certain forms of stomach cancer.
Genome Therapeutics, based in Waltham, Mass., is publicly owned.