Welwyn Garden City - Cresset today announced that it has launched Versaphor, a new desktop applications division aimed at supplying high quality tools based on its molecular Fields technology to a range of markets, including: medicinal chemists, patent teams (internal and external counsel), pre-clinical safety teams and in-licensing teams.

Versaphor's Field-based tools enable companies to find smarter answers to their chemistry questions and make quicker, better-informed decisions about which molecules deserve investment of time, effort and capital. Versaphor's first products are medicinal chemistry and patent specific versions of the FieldStere bioisostere generator. The Medicinal Chemistry application allows medicinal chemists to generate highly innovative ideas for drug-like lead molecules in new areas of chemical space. The Patent application enables patent attorneys to identify and more accurately evaluate the ‘obviousness' of new chemical filings and to develop stronger patent filings covering a wider range of structural diversity.

Cresset's Field-based tools have successfully been used by Computational Chemists for over 8 years to predict and compare the activity and properties of their lead compounds. Instead of relying on 2D structure, Cresset uses the Fields around molecules to assess their likely biological activity and properties, regardless of structural similarity. Cresset's Fields provide an accurate, highly-condensed representation of the nature, size and location of the critical properties required for binding and instigating a specific therapeutic effect.

"The Versaphor division will develop Cresset's core technology into market-specific applications, enabling diverse groups in pharmaceutical and biotech companies to realise the full benefits of Field based chemistry" said Bea Leigh, Chief Executive Officer, Cresset.  "We will deliver tailored desktop applications through Versaphor, whilst continuing to focus on the developing needs of the computational chemistry market through Cresset."

For further information, please visit www.versaphor.com