The primary mission of TheraKem is to develop novel chemistries for the development of new drugs. TheraKem has developed two distinct synthetic technologies: (1) a method to prepare novel fluorinated compounds; (2) a new method to prepare chiral alpha-substituted-beta-amino acids.

About 40% of agrochemicals and 20% of pharmaceuticals on the market are fluorinated compounds. The percentage is even higher for compounds under development, clearly illustrating the importance of fluorine in drug development. The potential advantages offered by fluorine incorporation include: (1) increased resistance to metabolism; (2) enhanced lipophilicity and bioavailability; (3) intriguing changes of the chemical and physical properties of molecules as a result of the high electronegativity of fluorine.

TheraKem has developed a novel synthetic method to prepare unprecedented fluorinated compounds as useful intermediates and building blocks to new drug candidates. Indeed, these new fluorinated building blocks have been successfully applied to the preparations of new antiviral and antimalarial compounds.

There are over 350 peptide and protein drugs at various stages of clinical development. Amino acids are the basic building blocks for these peptide drugs. Beta-Amino acids have gained increasing attention because they can serve as useful building blocks for the syntheses of novel peptides and other complex molecules. TheraKem has developed a novel method to prepare chiral alpha-substituted-beta-amino acids.

TheraKem has licensed out both technologies to a chemical company that specializes in the sales and manufacturing of fine chemicals. In this exclusive license, TheraKem will receive royalties from the sales of all chemicals that are manufactured using TheraKem's proprietary technologies.

Last Updated April 15, 2010

© 2005 T.Goodwater. All rights reserved.

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