During RP1 the consortium assembled the unique ESCulab Compound Collection (ECC), put in place new guidance documents for scientists, updated communication materials, and implemented new technologies. The first programmes were proposed and selected for screening and entered the screening pipeline. In RP2 we were faced with COVID-19 related challenges. Despite that, ESCulab remained largely operational and made progress throughout the year. Other achievements include completion of the HCS screening infrastructure , agreement on the framework for charity funded screens, and the recruitment of Sars-CoV-2 related proposals.
RP3 and RP4 were marked by a steady influx of programmes, and further detailing of the sustainability strategy of the initiative. RP5 was marked by the finalisation of all the programmes, a final boost towards the recruitment of the charity funded screens (CFS), and decisions on the final sustainability strategy.
In total 112 EFPIA and 5 MMV programmes were nominated. Of these, 109 were accepted into the ELF portfolio, and for 79 programmes the QHL was delivered.
The European scientific community submitted 62 proposals for screening. Of these, 9 were HCS proposals. 38 were accepted into the portfolio. Recruitment was closed in January 2022. The accepted programmes show a good coverage of different therapeutic areas and diseases (fig. 2), as well as the type of organisation (fig. 3). For the crowdsourced programmes, 26 programmes reached QHLs, and the programme owners can use the compounds released with the QHL for further exploitation.
Significant progress was also made on the sustainability of the ELF, and the strategy has been further developed during RP5. For the recruitment of CFS, active discussions with both charities as well as programme owners have taken place. We promoted the CFS opportunity at international meetings, linked to the CFS, a Dutch assay development fund was launched to support scientists in the Netherlands working with a charity or foundation on an early drug discovery project.
In the final period of the project it became clear that there was not enough support from partners nor were other funding sources available to continue sharing the compound collection and keep the infrastructure running for a 3 years post-term period. To ensure a controlled closing of the ELF and adequate delivery on the QHLs of running programmes, we decided to wind down the ELF, and not establish the envisioned ELF foundation. 2 EFPIA partners will continue compound sharing for another 6 months, to allow them to finalise a few pending programmes. The closing of the ELF marks the end of a highly successful partnership, that has made significant contributions to the European drug discovery ecosystem for over a decade.
The results, impact and lessons learned from the ELF were captured in a final report for the general public (
https://elfendofprojectreport.europeanleadfactory.eu(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) Fig. 4 summarizes the key outcomes achieved after 11 years of ELF.
