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European Screening Centre: unique library for attractive biology (ESCulab)

 

The project should include:

A screening library. The core of the ESCulab library will ideally consist of ~550 000 unique, non-commercial compounds from the pharmaceutical companies and the short proposal applicant consortium.

Compound logistics and uHTS screening facilities

Assay development capabilities

Screening facilities. ESCulab is expected to run 50 programmes free to the public and also develop a strategy to enable the screening of externally-funded screens

Hit Confirmation capabilites

Long-term sustainability plans

The translation of novel biological concepts into drug discovery projects critically requires chemical matter that has the potential to become a valuable tool in the treatment of a disease. One of the key barriers to this translation is access to high-quality compound libraries and high throughput screening facilities, especially to academic groups and SMEs

Lower the hurdles for academic groups and SMEs to translate early innovative biology into chemical series that have the potential to be optimised into drug candidates

Cut timelines to arrive at clinical proof of concept in diseases with unmet medical need

Demonstrate that target owners have the confidence to further invest in the hit lists generated during the project

Sustainable, well recognised screening centre with access to a high-quality library which adopts a business model relying on externally funded screens.

ESCulab should be the operational partner of choice for scientists to bring modulation of their targets with small molecules from theory into practice.