News:Merck natural products library relaunched at Pennsylvania Biotech Center

StephenW

Merck natural products library relaunched at Pennsylvania Biotech Center                                                The research arm of the Hepatitis B Foundation, the Institute for Hepatitis and Virus Research, has launched the Natural Products Discovery Institute, using resources donated by Merck (NYSE:MRCK).
The institute, located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania and housed at thePennsylvania Biotechnology Center, will develop and perform research on its collection of natural products for human and animal health. It will also make its collections accessible to qualified researchers and help promote therapeutic drug discovery and natural products, advancing the mission of the Hepatitis B Foundation and the IHVR, according to a press statement.
Merck donated the natural products library over the summer. The institute’s staff includes scientists who were responsible for  the microbiology, chemistry and curatorship of this natural products  collection when it was at Merck.


Natural products refer to compounds derived from living organisms, such as plants and microorganisms.Timothy Block, co-founder and volunteer president of the Hepatitis B Foundation, IHVR and the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, said IHVR has invested an initial $600,000 in the NPDI, which it will manage.
Block said: “We expect that this research activity will lead to the discovery of novel molecules with biological activity and to the formation of new life sciences companies that will seek to commercialize discoveries centered on natural products.”
Block is also a microbiology professor at Drexel University College of Medicine.
                                                       

StephenW

默克公司的天然产物库，重新启动在宾夕法尼亚州的生物技术中心

乙型肝炎基金会，肝炎病毒研究的研究所，研究机构推出的天然产品研究所发现，使用由默克公司（纽约证券交易所：MRCK）捐赠的资源。

位于宾夕法尼亚州的Doylestown，和设在宾夕法尼亚州的生物技术研究中心，研究所，将制定和执行其对人类和动物健康的自然产品的研究。它也将其收藏的合格的研究人员，并帮助促进治疗药物发现和天然产品，推动B型肝炎基金会和IHVR的使命，根据一项新闻声明。

默克公司捐赠了夏季的天然产物库。研究所的工作人员，包括谁负责的微生物，化学和天然产品，这个集合佐时默克的科学家。



天然产品是指来自生物体的化合物，如植物和微生物，。

Block，B型肝炎基金会，IHVR和宾夕法尼亚州的生物技术研究中心的共同创始人和志愿者总裁蒂莫西说，IHVR投资NPDI，它将管理最初的$ 600,000。

Block说：“我们希望这项研究活动将导致发现具有生物活性的的新型分子，并形成新的生命科学公司将寻求以天然产品为中心的发现商业化。”

Block也是在德雷克塞尔大学医学院微生物学教授。