Gilead Submits New Drug Application to U.S. FDA for Once-Daily, Single-Tablet “Quad” HIV Regimen

View the Latest Test Results

Trana Discovery HIV Video | Produced by LemonStripe | Work for this project was performed under the DAIDS, NIAID contract N01-AI-70042; Roger Miller, Project Officer.

CARY, NC (June 27, 2011) – Trana Discovery, Inc., a drug discovery technology company, today announced the availability of a new High-Throughput Screening (HTS) assay capable of selectively identifying compounds that inhibit the reproduction of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria through a unique mechanism of action: the inhibition of the bacteria’s ability to use a specific transfer RNA (tRNA) in protein synthesis. The assay opens the door for the discovery and development of critically-needed treatments of Staphylococcus aureus infections.

The need for new effective antibiotics to treat infections caused by S. aureus bacteria, including virulent strains such as Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), has never been more evident. Unfortunately, only a limited number of truly novel antibiotic classes have been discovered and developed during the past 30 years. The vast majority of new antibiotics were merely structurally modified derivatives of existing chemical scaffolds, each of which still worked by the respective parent compound legacy mechanism of action and whose avoidance of resistance mechanisms by target pathogens was usually short-lived. Accordingly, the real solution for discovery and development of highly active and durable antibiotics targeted against these resistant bacteria is to exploit novel targets and novel chemical structures that interact with them.

The Trana Staphylococcus aureus 201 High-Throughput (HTS) Assay identifies compounds that inhibit the essential use of a non-human S. aureus tRNA^Arg that is required for protein synthesis. The assay identifies compounds that interfere with the interaction of an oligonucleotide mimic of the ASL loop of tRNA^Arg with a programmed ribosome.

During validation runs, the assay was used to screen a 60,000 compound library from which 283 compounds were initially identified. These compounds were retested in a dose response curve and 89 compounds were confirmed as biochemically active. Thirty-eight of these compounds were selected based on an acceptable IC50 concentration and tested in a bacterial assay where eight compounds demonstrated activity against two or more strains of S. aureus. The assay is now fully HTS functional and is immediately available for licensing.

“Staph aureus is a major public health concern. A unique target appears to be a logical approach to overcoming resistance in these clinically important pathogens,” said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “Trana Discovery technology and intellectual property offers the opportunity for exclusive licensing of this Staph aureus assay and, in turn, full ownership of new classes of anti-infectives discovered through its application.”

Development and commercialization of the assay was made possible by a small business research loan awarded by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

A white paper is available for downloading that describes the assay and validation runs in detail: Trana Discovery Staphylococcus aureus 201 HTS Assay White Paper.

In addition to the new S. aureus HTS assay, Trana has developed the Trana HIV 201 assay that is capable of identifying compounds that interfere with the use of tRNA by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS. Organizations interested in licensing either assay should contact Trana at info@tranadiscovery.com or by calling 866-390-3452 (toll free) or +1-919-342-6192.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.
Trana Discovery, an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, helps its partners find new classes of drugs for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Our proprietary assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The use of high-throughput screening assays developed by Trana Discovery will reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Our assays provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes. Trana Discovery has licensed the patented technology emanating from 20 years of research conducted at North Carolina State University, and holds patents that expand on this core technology and its use in high-throughput screening. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.tranadiscovery.com.

###

CARY, NC (December 14, 2010) – Trana Discovery, Inc., an infectious disease drug discovery technology company, today announced that a recent study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, part of the National Institutes of Health, affirms that bioactive compounds selected using the Trana HIV 201 High-Throughput (HTS) Assay inhibit viral strains demonstrating resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). The results of the in vitro testing indicate that the selected compounds do not appear to act as NNRTIs, but rather by a different mechanism of action. In addition, these compounds were found to modestly inhibit a multi-drug resistant virus that has demonstrated resistance to commonly prescribed HIV treatments such as nevirapine, saquinavir, 3TC and AZT.

The Trana HIV assay is based on the premise that HIV has evolved to use tRNALys3 as a primer for initiation of reverse transcription. The tRNALys3 primer is required to copy its genetic material and generate new viruses. Therefore, the interaction between tRNALys3 and viral genomic RNA represents a potential novel target for HIV drug development. The Trana HIV assay is designed to select compounds that inhibit the use of tRNALys3 by HIV and that in turn can be developed as new anti-HIV drug therapies.

Through a collaboration with Southern Research Institute, the HIV assay was deployed in three separate screening campaigns against more than 120,000 diverse compounds. Seven bioactive compounds were selected for additional follow-up testing and characterization in dose-response against NNRTI-resistant HIV isolates in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) assays. These seven compounds were previously found to have modest antiviral activity against HIV in a cell-based assay.

Testing against NNRTI-resistant viruses was conducted to study whether or not the compounds were acting as NNRTIs. The results from this testing indicated there was no apparent difference in antiviral activity based on the presence of NNRTI-resistance mutations in the viruses, which indicates the compounds don’t appear to act as NNRTIs.

“These results help to demonstrate that the Trana HIV assay identifies compounds that act through a different mechanism of action,” said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “Trana has filed for patent protection on these compounds as well as their ability to inhibit HIV-resistant isolates. We are now in a position to license the HIV assay, drug class and bioactive compounds to qualified pharmaceutical companies for further development.”

High-throughput screening of an additional 200,000 compounds using the Trana HIV 201 HTS Assay has recently been completed. Compounds found to be active as a result of this additional screening are currently being identified for similar follow-up testing against HIV replication in cell-based assays. Based on prior experience, similar results are anticipated.

High-throughput screening using the Trana HIV 201 HTS Assay and follow-up testing of compounds for bioactivity against HIV in cell-based assays was performed under the NIAID, DAIDS contract N01-AI-70042; Roger Miller, Project Officer. In addition, testing of the compounds against NNRTI and multi-drug resistant HIV in PBMCs was supported by the NIAID, DAIDS contract N01-AI-70041; Steven Turk, Project Officer.

Click to view a video on the Trana HIV 201 HTS Assay and how it works.

The Trana HIV 201 HTS Assay can be used to search company-owned compound libraries, confirm the mechanism of action for black-hole leads, or screen other commercially available compound libraries. Organizations interested in licensing the assay, class and bioactive compounds should contact Trana at info@tranadiscovery.com or by calling 866-390-3452 (toll free) or +1-919-342-6192.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.
Trana Discovery, an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, helps its partners find new classes of drugs for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Our proprietary assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The use of high-throughput screening assays developed by Trana Discovery will reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Our assays provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes. Trana Discovery has licensed the patented technology emanating from 20 years of research conducted at North Carolina State University, and holds patents that expand on this core technology and its use in high throughput screening. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.tranadiscovery.com.

Assays based on inhibition of tRNA receive $375,000 in funding…

CARY, NC (November 22, 2010) – Trana Discovery, Inc., an infectious disease drug discovery technology company, today announced that two of the Company’s drug discovery assays, the novel anti-HIV 201 HTS Drug Discovery Assay and the Staphylococcus aureus Antibiotic Drug Discovery Assay, qualified to receive federal grant funding under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As a result, Trana will receive a cash grant totaling approximately $375,000. To date, Trana has received over $1.7 million for the development of its technology that identifies new therapeutic compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created a $1.0 billion federal program to provide tax credits and grants to small firms that show significant potential to produce new and cost-saving therapies, support jobs and increase U.S. competitiveness. The National Institute of Health oversaw the awarding of the grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Program.

The Trana HIV 201 High-Throughput (HTS) Assay is designed to identify compounds that inhibit the use of tRNALys3 by HIV and has the ability to select compounds with anti-HIV bioactivity. Because tRNA is essential for HIV replication, disruption of the virus’ ability to use tRNA would represent a novel target for anti-HIV drug therapy.

Through a partnership with Southern Research Institute, the HIV assay was fully optimized for high-throughput screening and was deployed in three separate screening campaigns against over 120,000 diverse compounds. Compounds that showed bioactivity were identified in each screening and now a total of 51 chemistries have demonstrated anti-HIV bioactivity in cell-based assays. These chemistries are grouped within a few distinct families that constitute a new class of HIV antivirals.

Trana Discovery is in a position to license the HIV assay, drug class and lead compounds to qualified pharmaceutical companies for further development. The assay itself can be used to search company-owned compound libraries, confirm the mechanism of action for black-hole leads, or screen other commercially available compound libraries.

“HIV infections remain a chronic disease with no immediate cure on the horizon,” said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “Therapies that inhibit the virus through novel approaches, such as with tRNA inhibition, will give rise to the ability of clinicians to provide many years of successful treatments for patients chronically infected with HIV without leading to AIDS defining events and infectious complications.”

Development of the HIV 201 HTS Assay was performed under the DAIDS, NIAID contract N01-AI-70042; Roger Miller, Project Officer.

Trana Discovery is also developing of a new HTS assay capable of selectively identifying compounds that inhibit the reproduction of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The assay is designed to identify compounds that inhibit an essential tRNA that is specific to Staph aureus. The project is intended to advance this assay to full HTS functionality for licensing to pharmaceutical companies. Development of the assay was made possible by a $250,000 Small Business Research Loan awarded to the company by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

“We are delighted that our efforts to commercialize these promising technologies have been recognized by the many organizations who are supporting this work,” said Peterson.

Organizations interested in licensing either of these technologies should contact Trana at info@tranadiscovery.com or by calling 866-390-3452 (toll free) or +1-919-342-6192.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.
Trana Discovery, an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, helps its partners find new classes of drugs for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Our proprietary assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The use of high-throughput screening assays developed by Trana Discovery will reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Our assays provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes. Trana Discovery has licensed the patented technology emanating from 20 years of research conducted at North Carolina State University, and holds patents that expand on this core technology and its use in high throughput screening. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.tranadiscovery.com.

World-renowned experts will focus on prioritizing prime disease targets for future assay development and new applications of the unique drug discovery technology…

CARY, NC (March 16, 2010) – Trana Discovery, Inc., an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, today announced three new members of its Scientific Advisory Board. Joining chairperson Michael Ossi, MD are Karin Musier-Forsyth, Ph.D., Ohio Eminent Scholar, The Ohio State University; Luigi Xerri, Ph.D. Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Protez Phamaceuticals; and Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D., Professor and Division Chair, Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Karin Musier-Forsyth received her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Cornell University and completed a post doc at M.I.T. After professorships at the University of Minnesota, Karin joined the faculty of the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry at OSU as Ohio Eminent Scholar in 2007. During her career, Karin has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Merck Professor of Chemistry, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Camille-Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award, Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry, and Distinguished Women Scholars Award in Science and Engineering. In 2009 she was named a Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science. Her research in the area of Biological Chemistry focuses on investigations of quality control mechanisms in protein translation and molecular interactions critical for retroviral replication.

Before founding Protez Phamaceuticals, Luigi Xerri was Director of Antimicrobial Disease Strategy at GlaxoSmithKline. During his 30 years experience in R & D for antibacterials, Luigi led antibiotic discovery and preclinical as well as clinical development at GlaxoWellcome, made key contributions to the clinical and commercialization strategies for quinolones and cepholosporins, as well as having broad strategic responsibility for antibacterials. He is recognized internationally as an expert in antibiotics, with his research interest and areas of expertise including bacterial resistance (epidemiology and experimental evaluation), antibiotic pharmacokinetics/ pharmacodynamics and natural host defenses.

Alexander Tropsha obtained his PhD from Moscow State University and started his research in computational chemistry in Moscow, Russia, in 1980s and his postdoctoral fellow at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1989. He is a member of several editorial boards of scientific journals, permanent member of the BDMA Study Section at the NIH and an elected member of the Board and vice-chair of the international Cheminformatics and QSAR Society. Alexander’s general research interests are in the areas of Computer-Assisted Drug Design, Computational Toxicology, Cheminformatics, and Structural Bioinformatics. His overarching goals are to expand our understanding of biology through interdisciplinary collaboration and to encourage rapid medical improvements that can be translated quickly to patient care.

“We are delighted to be working with such a distinguished group of world-renowned leaders in biological chemistry, antibiotic research and informatics,” said Dr. Ossi. “Having this Board in place is an important step in supporting increased research and discovery efforts to combat the ever-growing burden of microbial resistance.”

Trana Discovery assays identify new drug compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. Trana’s high-throughput HIV drug discovery assay is capable of identifying compounds that interfere with the use of tRNA by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS. An HTS assay for Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is currently under development. Recently, Trana Discovery has begun proof of concept studies on a rapid diagnostic platform that could identify the presence of the vast majority of infection-causing bacteria and possibly fungi in under an hour.

Organizations interested in licensing this technology should contact Trana at info@tranadiscovery.com or by calling 866-390-3452 (toll free) or +1-919-342-6192.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.
Trana Discovery, an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, helps its partners find new classes of drugs for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Our proprietary assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The use of high-throughput screening assays developed by Trana Discovery will reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Our assays provide exclusive licensing opportunities to new drug classes and treatments. Trana Discovery has licensed the patented technology emanating from 20 years of research conducted at North Carolina State University, and holds patents that expand on this core technology and its use in high throughput screening. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.tranadiscovery.com.

Rapid diagnostics based on tRNA identification could change how caregivers diagnose serious infectious diseases and prescribe treatments

CARY, NC (February 16, 2010) – Trana Discovery, Inc., an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, today announced that it has begun proof of concept studies on a rapid diagnostic platform that could identify the presence of the vast majority of infection-causing bacteria and possibly fungi in under an hour. The concept uses transfer RNA (tRNA) to detect the presence of infectious microorganisms in patient samples and, if present, identify the species of the infecting organism. If successful, this diagnostic platform could accelerate the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases in virtually any care setting, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, and doctors’ offices.

Rapid diagnostic tests are available for a few species of bacteria and some viruses, such as Strep, MRSA and influenza. However, many organisms remain difficult to identify rapidly, often requiring incubation periods over several days. Because of the need to treat infections in a timely manner, physicians often resort to treating patients using one or more broad spectrum agents while waiting for test results to identity a specific pathogen. This approach results in greater expense, higher morbidity and the potential for increased bacterial resistance when compared to an agent chosen with the specific pathogen identified.

Most pathogens have a unique profile of transfer RNAs (tRNAs) necessary for propagation. The Trana proprietary diagnostic technology capitalizes on the significance of modified nucleotide bases within transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and the ability to synthesize mimics of the anticodon stem loops (ASLs) of these tRNAs just as they occur in nature. During the proof-of-concept studies, an array will be populated with organism-specific RNA identifiers that are modified with a fluorescent label that binds to microbial ribosomes present in a patient’s sample. A specific molecular profile identifies the presence of a specific pathogen. Because the tRNA-ribosome binding is rapid, specific, and strong, tRNA-based diagnostics offers promise for application as a rapid diagnostic platform for identification of a variety of infectious microorganisms.

“We are delighted to be working on the development of this new diagnostic tool that we believe can reduce the prescribing of unnecessary antibiotics or multiple drug regimens,” said Steven Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “We envision that patient outcomes can be improved by initiating the right treatment at a period of time critical for effective intervention.”

“The development of a tRNA-based rapid diagnostic is a step towards more effective and rational prescribing of anti-infectives,” said Peterson. “The technology has the potential to revolutionize the world of in vitro diagnostics.”

Trana began proof of concept studies at facilities in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina area. The company expects results from the initial experiments later in 2010.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.
Trana Discovery, an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, helps its partners find new classes of drugs for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Our proprietary assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The use of high-throughput screening assays developed by Trana Discovery will reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Our assays provide exclusive licensing opportunities to new drug classes and treatments. Trana Discovery has licensed the patented technology emanating from 20 years of research conducted at North Carolina State University, and holds patents that expand on this core technology and its use in high throughput screening. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.tranadiscovery.com.

Recent investment and future licensing deals leads to self-funded status

CARY, NC (December 21, 2009) – Trana Discovery, Inc., an infectious disease drug discovery technology company, today announced the completion of its Series A round of funding. To date, the company has raised $720,000 in angel funding to commercialize technology that helps to discover new drugs for the treatment of bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. With the addition of a recent $700,000 contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for the screening of 300,000 compounds at Southern Research, organizations and investors have invested over $1.4 million in the technology.

Trana Discovery’s screening assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. Trana’s HIV high-throughput screening (HTS) assay is capable of identifying compounds that interfere with the use of tRNA by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS. As the result of a successful pilot study, NIAID approved an additional $700,000 contract with Southern Research Institute in order to screen an additional 300,000 compounds and to conduct confirmatory testing of selected lead compounds. The use of Trana assays can provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes and reduce the cost and time for drug discovery.

Trana engaged with Gary Shipman, managing partner of Shipman & Wright, LLP in forming Trana Discovery Ventures I, LLC, which led to the completion of the Series A investment round. As a result of the investment, Shipman will join Trana’s Board of Directors.

“We are delighted to welcome Gary as a new board member,” said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “He was instrumental in securing the funding that we believe will take us to a cash-positive position.”

Peterson expects that future research and development will be funded from revenues generated through discovered compounds and technology license agreements.

“We saw the promise of Trana technology of opening entirely new classes of anti-infectives for various human pathogens,” said Shipman, whose Wilmington, North Carolina-based law firm specializes in complex business litigation and placing private capital investments. “Like the people at Trana Discovery, we share a passion in helping mankind fight new and emerging diseases.”

The technology applies to a broad spectrum of infectious diseases. An HTS assay for Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is currently under development. The company is investigating other prime disease targets for future assay developments and new applications of the technology.

Trana Discovery is seeking organizations interested in licensing lead compounds from its research. Also, the company is seeking organizations that hold collections of compounds ready to be screened for bioactivity against HIV, and compounds with known bioactivity against HIV but unknown mechanism of action to identify candidates for drug development. Organizations should contact Trana at info@tranadiscovery.com or call 866-390-3452 (toll free) or +1-919-342-6192.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.
Trana Discovery, an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, helps its partners find new classes of drugs for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Our proprietary assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The use of high-throughput screening assays developed by Trana Discovery will reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Our assays provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes. Trana Discovery has licensed the patented technology emanating from 20 years of research conducted at North Carolina State University, and holds patents that expand on this core technology and its use in high throughput screening. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.tranadiscovery.com.

NIAID contracts additional $700,000 to screen 300,000 more compounds for HIV inhibition

CARY, NC and BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (October 28, 2009) – Trana Discovery, Inc., an infectious disease drug discovery technology company, and Southern Research Institute, a not-for-profit contract research organization conducting basic and applied preclinical drug research, today announced that several bioactive hits from a set of 15,000 diverse small molecule compounds screened under contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) exhibit antiviral activity against HIV-1 infected cells. Among the compounds tested at Southern Research using the Trana HIV 201 High-Throughput Screening (HTS) assay, 16 compounds demonstrated inhibition of HIV replication in infected human cells and several of these compounds were judged to be “potentially druggable.”

The screening assay used to identify the compounds is based on the premise that HIV-1 has evolved to use tRNALys3 as a primer for initiation of reverse transcription. Therefore, the interaction between tRNALys3 and viral genomic RNA represents a potential novel target for HIV-1 drug development. The biochemical assay to identify inhibitors of the interaction between tRNALys3 and HIV-1 genomic RNA was developed by Trana and transferred to Southern Research for high-throughput screening. Southern Research converted the assay to a homogeneous amplified luminescent proximity assay using AlphaScreen® reagents from PerkinElmer.

During this initial pilot study, 164 compounds were identified from the diversity set library as hits. Of these hits, 136 were retested in dose-response against HIV-1IIIB replication in a CEM-SS cytoprotection assay. Sixteen of this last group of compounds inhibited HIV-1 replication.

“These data indicate that the TRANA Discovery assay has identified a number of compounds with modest antiviral activity against HIV-1,” said Roger Ptak, Co-Principal Investigator, Southern Research Institute, in his report to the Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (DAIDS) within NIAID. “Additional testing of compounds with similar structures, as well as broader HTS, should lead to the identification of lead compounds that inhibit HIV-1 replication through the novel mechanism of inhibiting the interaction between tRNALys3 and viral genomic RNA.”

As a result of this successful pilot study, DAIDS has approved $700,000 of additional funding for the contract with Southern Research Institute in order to screen an additional 300,000 compounds and to conduct confirmatory testing of selected lead compounds. Lead candidates (or analogs) identified through this screening will be pursued by Trana Discovery for development and to secure the property rights and patents as deemed appropriate.

Toward that end, Trana Discovery is seeking organizations interested in licensing identified leads or that hold diverse collections of compounds or compounds with known bioactivity against HIV but unknown mechanism of action to identify candidates for drug development.

The use of high-throughput screening (HTS) assays developed by Trana Discovery can provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes and reduce the cost and time for drug discovery.

“We are excited about the results from the initial screening efforts and for the confidence exhibited by the NIAID/DAIDS by this additional funding commitment,” said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “We remain very optimistic that the use of our HIV assay will lead to new antivirals for the treatment of this disease.”

NIAID conducts and supports research to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. The NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research. Work for this project was performed under the DAIDS, NIAID contract N01-AI-70042; Roger Miller, Project Officer.

The HTS screening was conducted at the Southern Research High-Throughput Screening Center which consists of a suite of laboratories designed for efficient screening of large compound libraries and has the capacity for screening a wide variety of assay types. The Trana Discovery assay was recently validated in a 1536 well format, which increases the screening capabilities to over 100,000 compounds per day.

Organizations interested in licensing the Trana HIV 201 assay should contact Trana at info@tranadiscovery.com or by calling 866-390-3452 (toll free) or +1-919-342-6192. Parties interested in screening compounds using this assay at Southern Research Institute facilities may contact David Harris at d.harris@southernresearch.org or call +1-800-967-6774.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.
Trana Discovery, an anti-infective drug discovery technology company, helps its partners find new classes of drugs for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Our proprietary assays identify compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The use of high-throughput screening assays developed by Trana Discovery will reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Our assays provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes. Trana Discovery has licensed the patented technology emanating from 20 years of research conducted at North Carolina State University, and holds patents that expand on this core technology and its use in high throughput screening. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.tranadiscovery.com.

About Southern Research Institute
Southern Research Institute is a nonprofit 501(c)3 scientific research organization that conducts preclinical drug discovery and development, and advanced engineering research in materials, systems development, environment and energy. Our more than 550 scientific and engineering team members support clients and partners in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, defense, aerospace, environmental and energy industries. Southern Research is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., with facilities in Wilsonville, Ala., Anniston, Ala., Frederick, Md., and Durham, NC and offices in New Orleans, La., Washington, DC and Kiev, Ukraine. For more information about Southern Research and its capabilities and accomplishments, visit www.SouthernResearch.org.

* The structure of the human tRNALys3 anticodon bound to the HIV genome is stabilized by modified nucleosides and adjacent mismatch base pairs.Bilbille Y, Vendeix FA, Guenther R, Malkiewicz A, Ariza X, Vilarrasa J, Agris PF. Nucleic Acids Res. 2009 Jun;37(10):3342-53. Epub 2009 Mar 26.

New advisory board to identify assay development opportunities for emerging and drug-resistant infectious diseases…

CARY, NC (June 15, 2009) – Trana Discovery, Inc., an infectious disease drug discovery technology company, today announced the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board that will advise the company on the needs of the infectious disease community and on the development of assays to discover new medicines for the treatment of serious bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. Pharmaceutical industry veteran Dr. Michael Ossi will serve as the new board’s chairperson.

Trana Discovery assays identify new drug compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for propagation. The proprietary technology involves the use of mimics of critical components of naturally occurring tRNA, which in turn can be used as research tools and components in drug discovery assays. The Scientific Advisory Board will focus initially on prioritizing prime disease targets for future assay development and new applications of the technology.

Dr. Ossi earned his MD degree from the University of Maryland and is board certified in pediatric and adolescent medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. After residency training, he completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Beginning in 1977, Dr. Ossi built and maintained a large pediatric practice while concurrently serving as a faculty advisor for the University of Massachusetts Medical School residency program. In 1988, he accepted a position at Glaxo Inc. and spent the next 18 years in clinical drug development at the director and VP levels, managing programs in various viral and bacterial diseases and several oncology programs. During that time, Dr. Ossi held a faculty appointment at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC and served as an attending physician in the pediatric acute care clinic. Dr. Ossi was Vice President, Infectious Diseases, Medicine Development at GlaxoSmithKline before retiring in 2007.

“We are honored to have Mike on board as a scientific advisor,” said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “The formation of the Scientific Advisory Board represents an important step for the company as we prepare to move the technology forward in a very constructive fashion.”

Trana plans to identify other board members with expertise in microbiology, medicinal chemistry, and assay development to help guide the company and its technology well into the future.

The use of high-throughput screening (HTS) assays developed by Trana Discovery can provide licensing opportunities for exclusive rights to new drug classes and reduce the cost and time for drug discovery. Trana recently perfected its high-throughput HIV drug discovery assay which is capable of identifying compounds that interfere with the use of tRNA by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS. An HTS assay for Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is currently under development. Organizations interested in licensing either assay should contact Trana at info@tranadiscovery.com or by calling 866-390-3452 (toll free) or +1-919-342-6192.