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Eidogen Deposits 3D Structure of Human SARS Coronavirus Protease
Into Publicly Available Protein Data Bank

Pasadena, CA (May 14, 2003) - Eidogen, Inc., a biotechnology company committed to developing the finest computational drug discovery platforms, has deposited a high-resolution 3-dimensional structural model of the protease enzyme from the Coronavirus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) into the publicly available Protein Data Bank (PDB). “We would like to make this structure freely available to drug designers working to meet the urgent medical needs of those patients who are suffering from SARS infection,” said Dr. Derek Debe, Eidogen’s CEO. The structure is expected to facilitate the development of protease inhibitors to combat the spread of SARS.

Researchers at Eidogen built the model structure for SARS protease based on its homology to the known Coronavirus protease structure from Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus (PDB ID: 1LVO). After building the structure, Eidogen researchers used their newly released Target Informatics Platform™ (TIP™) to compare the SARS protease with the structure of a protease from human Rhinovirus, the virus responsible for the common cold (PDB ID: 1CQQ).

Eidogen’s comparative analysis of the two protease structures revealed significant similarities in the substrate binding sites. “Because of similarities

spanning the P3 to P1’ substrate binding subpockets, we expect that a number of the compounds previously developed to inhibit the rhinovirus protease may show activity against the SARS protease,” said Dr. Chen-Chen Kan, Eidogen’s Vice President of Pre-Clinical Drug Discovery. Eidogen’s analysis also revealed that unique structural features of the SARS protease in the P4 substrate binding subpocket could be exploited for the development of novel drugs with improved potency against SARS.

The SARS Coronavirus protease structure is available for download at the PDB site (www.rcsb.org), (PDB ID: 1PA5).

About Eidogen, Inc.
Eidogen is a Pasadena, California-based company committed to developing the finest computational drug discovery platforms ever developed. Eidogen's Target Informatics Platform (TIP) is the world's first structural and comparative proteomics enterprise software solution. TIP allows drug discovery researchers and organizations to attack their druggability, selectivity, toxicity, and reduced market exclusivity problems by supporting new and truly collaborative research in target prioritization, lead discovery, and lead optimization. Please visit www.eidogen.com to learn more.

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