TCS launches fragment-based drug design

HYDERABAD: The life sciences & healthcare division of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today announced the launch of a fragment-based drug design tool.

The company has also entered into an agreement with an Italian-based biotechnology firm, Congenia, to provide advanced fragment-based lead optimization solution for drug discovery.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Dr M VidyaSagar Rao, executive vice-president, TCS, said, “It is for the first time that the deliverable of a project is a molecule, and not a piece of code. While the conventional approaches to new drug discovery consumes time and money, our tool is superior in ways more than one.”

According to the company, the fragment-based drug design tool, tests compounds, redo structure determination if necessary and saves time and money.

The company also stated that the tool accounts for 15 - 18 percent of the total costs of new drug discovery while the development costs per drug ranges from $ 700 - $ 1,200 million and takes around eight to 12 years to develop. The addressable market size for TCS in this space is said to be around $6 billion a year.

Rao further said that the deal with Italian biotech firm is closed at Euro 1 million and is optimistic about more similar deals.