1. University of Leicester scientist wins
Domainex’s STAR Award to support
her search for a treatment for non-
Hodgkin lymphomas
Cambridge, UK, 3rd
February 2016: Domainex Ltd is pleased to announce that the recipient
of its latest Discovery STAR Award is Dr Aude Echalier, Lecturer in Structural Biology of
Cancer Related Targets at the University of Leicester. This award will give Dr Echalier
access to the outstanding drug discovery capabilities of Domainex in support of her research,
which aims to target deubiquitinase enzymes (DUBs) leading to a new treatment for diffuse
large B‐Cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
“Domainex received a number of strong applications for this year’s Discovery STAR Award
scheme, but Dr Echalier’s project really stood out as she had in place a great drug target and
all the elements needed to start a discovery project,” said Trevor Perrior, Director of Research
at Domainex. He went on to say: “We very much welcome the opportunity to help Dr
Echalier identify inhibitors of this enzyme, and hope that by generating drug-like chemical
starting points she will be able to access further funding that will support the development of
a new treatment for this disease.”
Domainex will provide Dr Echalier with expert drug discovery guidance and access to its
unique LeadBuilder virtual hit screening technology. Following the identification of hits
using this approach, Dr Echalier, who has been working with the Leicester Drug Discovery
and Diagnostics Centre, will co-ordinate further testing of these hits and then, with support
from Domainex, she will seek additional funding to develop these towards potential new drug
candidates for treatment of this form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Dr Echalier of the University of Leicester said ‘I am delighted to have been successful in
securing the prestigious Discovery STAR award from Domainex. Their LeadBuilder platform
is a proven approach to rapidly identifying virtual hit compounds with significantly enhanced
hit rates in subsequent bioassays. I look forward to working with the team at Domainex to
identify drug-like small molecule inhibitors of our chosen deubiquitinase in the near future
and to progressing these into a programme of drug discovery.’
- ENDS -
Editors Notes
About Domainex
Domainex Ltd. is a Cambridge-based small-molecule drug discovery company that provides
integrated drug discovery services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic partners
globally. Services cover a wide span of the drug discovery value chain, from disease target
validation to pre-clinical candidate nomination. Domainex's services include recombinant
protein expression and use of its proprietary technology platform, Combinatorial Domain
Hunting to identify soluble protein fragments for structural biology and assay development.

2. Hit finding activities encompass assay development and screening utilising its Bioassay
Builder and LeadBuilder platforms. The core of the service platform is undertaking multi-
parameter medicinal chemistry optimisation of hits and leads under the mantra ‘every
compound counts’, which can save up to 30% of average industry time.
Additionally, Domainex is investing in developing its own therapeutic compounds for out-
licensing in two specific areas: 1) Inhibitors of the kinases TBK1 & IKK epsilon to treat
inflammatory conditions such as COPD and psoriasis; 2) The emerging epigenetic target
class of lysine methyltransferases potentially implicated in oncology, where to date
Domainex has built a portfolio of drug discovery assets encompassing novel chemical matter,
proprietary assays and crystal structures.
For more information please visit www.domainex.co.uk
About Domainex’s Discovery STAR award
Domainex launched its Discovery STAR award in 2013 to support the early stages of drug
discovery. At Domainex’s discretion, awardees will be provided with drug discovery advice
and selected services free of charge in order to prepare applicants for funding applications to
schemes such as the Wellcome Trust SDD, Innovate UK, Biocatalyst Fund or MRC DPFS.
Domainex plans to operate this scheme annually and will announce the next round shortly.
More information on the Discovery STAR Award
About Diffuse B‐Cell Lymphomas (DLBCL)
Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer. The two main forms of lymphoma are
Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Lymphoma occurs when cells of
the immune system called lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, grow and multiply
uncontrollably. Cancerous lymphocytes can travel to many parts of the body, including the
lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, blood, or other organs, and form a tumour. The body has
two main types of lymphocytes that can develop into lymphomas: B-lymphocytes (B-cells)
and T-lymphocytes (T-cells).
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common form of NHL, accounting for
approximately 13% of the 35,000 new cases of haematological malignancy per year in the
UK. CR‐UK figures for 2010 place this as the 6th
most commonly diagnosed cancer in the
UK. DLBCL is an aggressive (fast-growing) lymphoma. It can arise in lymph nodes or
outside of the lymphatic system, in the gastrointestinal tract, testes, thyroid, skin, breast,
bone, or brain.
The most widely used treatment for DLBCL is R-CHOP, which is a mixture of rituximab and
several chemotherapy drugs (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone).
Approximately one third of patients relapse or are refractory (RR‐DLBCL) to current
treatments (R‐CHOP and associated regimes), the outlook for these patients is dismal. If left
untreated, RR‐DLBCL has a life expectancy of 3 to 4 months.
Ref: Retrieved December 2015, from Lymphoma Research Foundation:
http://www.lymphoma.org/site/pp.asp?c=bkLTKaOQLmK8E&b=6296735

3. About The University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is led by discovery and innovation – an international centre for
excellence renowned for research, teaching and broadening access to higher education. The
University of Leicester is ranked among the top one per cent of universities in the world by
the THE World University Rankings and also among the top 100 leading international
universities in the world. It is among the top 25 universities in the Times Higher Education
REF Research Power rankings with 75% of research adjudged to be internationally excellent
with wide-ranging impacts on society, health, culture, and the environment.
Find out more: https://le.ac.uk/about-us
About Leicester Drug Discovery and Diagnostics Centre
With leadership from Director Professor Andrew Tobin, the backing of a dedicated Steering
Group and the provision of research support, the Centre ensures that milestones, deliverables
and end points are met consistently. Our expanding drug discovery infrastructure includes
dedicated research expertise and access to an extensive range of scientific facilities; with
support from knowledge transfer professionals the Centre has established successful
collaborative partnerships. Our collaborators include leading pharma companies, small
biotechs and contract research organisations. We are in a fortunate position to be adaptive
and rapid in progressing carefully identified projects emerging from basic science
discoveries to clinically facing outcomes.
Find out more: http://www2.le.ac.uk/colleges/medbiopsych/research/ldddc
For more information regarding this project please contact:
Dr. Thomas Mander MBA
Chief Operating Officer
tom.mander@domainex.co.uk
www.domainex.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223 743174
Mob: +44 (0)7584 578024
Aude Echalier
Lecturer in Structural Biology
Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology and of Cancer Studies
University of Leicester,
Tel: +44(0) 116 229 7120
aude.echalier@le.ac.uk
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/molcellbiol/staff/Aude%20Echalier-Glazer/research
For media relations please contact:
Sciad for Domainex
Richard Anderson, richard@sciad.com, M: +44 (0)7973 950376
Deborah Cockerill, deborah@sciad.com, M: +44 (0)7930 317729