Roche and AstraZeneca announced today a new collaboration to share a specific type of early research data related to drug design, which could further accelerate the discovery of high quality compounds with an increased chance of clinical success. Using a dedicated technology (Matched Molecular Pair Analysis, MMPA) modifications will be identified, which companies can apply to their compound structures in order to improve their metabolism, pharmacokinetics or safety, without divulging confidential information about their chemical structures. This gives both companies the opportunity to efficiently reapply useful medicinal chemistry know-how embedded in their combined databases of experimental results, in order to identify potential new drug candidates using fewer rounds of design, synthesis and testing. Both Roche and AstraZeneca will make their selected databases available for this type of joint analysis and are committed to making the data generated available to the broader research community, including research foundations, charities and academia. Read the full story.