Descrizione del progetto
Trovare una nuova finalità per i vecchi farmaci
La possibilità di fornire nuovi trattamenti ai pazienti non deriva solo dalla scoperta di nuovi farmaci: un’altra strada percorribile è il riposizionamento di farmaci già esistenti e in commercio per trattare malattie sia diffuse che rare. Il progetto DRUGtrain, finanziato dall’UE, svilupperà un paradigma per la ricerca multidisciplinare, ideale per migliorare le strategie di riposizionamento dei farmaci e di sviluppo di composti, ad esempio per la malattia policistica renale autosomica dominante. Nello specifico, il progetto userà approcci bioinformatici e chemioinformatici innovativi per identificare potenziali bersagli di farmaci e farmaci candidati per il riposizionamento. Esso svolgerà inoltre sperimentazioni e screening di farmaci in modelli in vitro e in vivo avanzati, e condurrà, in definitiva, alla sperimentazione di nuove strategie di trattamento. DRUGtrain sta inoltre sviluppando attività di rete per favorire la collaborazione tra il mondo accademico, l’industria e le associazioni dei pazienti.
Obiettivo
Drug repurposing (or repositioning) is the application of previously identified drugs or compounds to treat new indications.
The International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) set as main goal for 2027 that 1000 new therapies for rare
diseases will be approved. One of the levers to achieve this goal includes the repurposing of already existing and marketed
drugs. In this context, DRUGtrain offers a timely paradigm for multidisciplinary research ideal for improving drug repurposing
and development strategies of compounds, with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) as example.
Identifying compounds for repurposing requires a broad variety of approaches. Therefore, the aim of DRUGtrain is to offer a
multidisciplinary research training program to young researchers preparing them to become leading scientists able to
integrate molecular and pharmacological data, and translate fundamental research questions to the (pre)clinic and vice
versa.
The research objectives of DRUGtrain are: 1) To identify potential drug targets and drug candidates for repurposing using
innovative bio-informatics and cheminformatics approaches; 2) To perform drug testing/drug screenings in advanced in vitro
and in vivo models, ultimately leading to testing of new treatment strategies; 3) To clarify drug mechanisms, and identify and
reduce adverse events using state-of-the-art technologies from in silico and wet lab methodologies. Complementary training
through courses will cover additional topics in drug repurposing and drug discovery as well as scientific skills, personal
development, commerce and entrepreneurship.
In DRUGtrain, 6 academic and 4 private sector beneficiaries/partner organisations and 1 NGO are collaborating in joining
forces to intensify network activities between academia, industry, and a patient organization. The training offered should
support the ESRs in becoming the next generation of true multidisciplinary researchers in (bio)pharmaceutical sciences.
Campo scientifico
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug discovery
- social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiescivil societynongovernmental organizations
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managemententrepreneurship
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinenephrologykidney diseases
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementcommerce
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-ITN - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)Coordinatore
2333 ZA Leiden
Paesi Bassi