Successful first validation test on VCX™ Discovery Platform at UCSD Biomedical Lab - Verséa
 

Successful first validation test on VCX™ Discovery Platform at UCSD Biomedical Lab

April 7, 2022by Natasha Svast

Verséa Discovery successfully ran its first validation test assays at the UCSD Biomedical Lab using its proprietary VCX™ Discovery Platform

 

The cellular based platform VCX™ Discovery Platform follows a proprietary process developed by Verséa Discovery.

Through machine learning, the system links highly specific cellular functions (focused on mitochondrial biology and second messenger signaling) to specific molecular structures. High throughput data profiles of unknown compounds are generated, organized, and screened/validated through our proprietary reference library and algorithm. The objective is to “De-risk” an asset by providing data vs. speculation of the therapeutic potential or lack thereof of a compound long before millions of dollars are spent in the drug development and discovery process.

 

UCSD Biomedical Lab Team: Juan Zuniga-Hertz, PhD., UCSD (pictured right), Dr. Hemal Patel, Chief Scientific Officer of Versea Discovery (pictured center), and Ram Chitteti, PhD., UCSD, pictured left)

 

Ground Breaking Process

 

Mitochondria created a symbiotic relationship with eukaryotic cells billions of years ago. In exchange for a host environment, they provided energy for systems to grow, organize, and thrive in harsh environments…at the time an oxygen rich environment. What has evolved over eons is a refined relationship where mitochondrial serve an energetic and signaling role that is critical to homeostatic function in virtually all systems, organs, and cells where the degradation of mitochondria leads to pathophysiology in virtually all disease to some extent—suggesting energy balance is critical to life, adaptation, survival, and thriving. Our groundbreaking process at Verséa Discovery aims to understand mitochondrial biology coupled to critical cell functions at a high resolution to probe how exogenous compounds can effect this delicate balance. The goal is to apply this understanding to the discovery and application of novel agents to impact human health and endurance.

 

Investment in the Laboratory

 

Verséa Discovery has placed two powerful systems coupled together (the Agilent Seahorse XF Pro and Cytation 5) in the discovery laboratory at the University of California, San Diego. Verséa Discovery will engage with expert scientists at UCSD to screen a variety of compounds, cell types, and biologics to advance therapeutics for human disease.

 

VCX™ Discovery Platform

The VCX™ Discovery Platform is a high throughput screening platform and process for evaluating new drug candidates (chemical, botanical, or biological entities). The adaptability of the platform is based on personalized consultation with clients to identify disease target of interest, optimized cell based models of pathophysiology, targeted mixing and matching of key cellular assays to define therapeutic benefit, and ultimate screening and candidate identification based on defined machine learning analysis based on proprietary in house validated data on reference drug targets. Additional scale and disease/target validation to screening is offered by enhanced testing in C. elegans, a model organism, for a variety of processes.

The VCX™ Discovery Platform is a scalable system that saves millions of dollars in the drug discovery process consumed by sup-prime models and assays, time to screen, and poorly identified candidate compounds. The VCX Platform de-risks the discovery and development process by providing a means of assessing the therapeutic potential of hundreds of compounds over a short period of time, generating data in months, not years.

With the completion of the development of the VCX Discovery Platform and filing of IP, Verséa Discovery is now begin screening hemp-derived and pharmaceutical compounds to build a pipeline of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) and Botanical Rx drug candidates using standard as well as personalized based in vitro model systems. Areas of interest and available models at Verséa Discovery include:

 

If you are interested in utilizing the VCX™ Discovery Platform for your own research purposes, to assess the therapeutic potential of your compounds and select the most effective ones, contact Verséa Discovery Team at info@versea.com or 1-800-397-0670