On September 6, 2021 Selvita, one of the largest preclinical contract research organizations in Europe, reported that it had received a grant funding of 1 M EUR to create a novel technological platform which will accelerate the drug discovery process (Press release, Selvita, SEP 6, 2021, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=selvita-will-develop-a-platform-to-produce-focused-libraries-of-bioactive-compounds-with-the-use-of-machine-learning-and-ai-methods [SID1234587267]). The grant came from the National Centre of Research and Development with a total of 1.7 M EUR dedicated to the project. The project will enable Company to implement new services for biotech and pharma clients.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
The aim of the project is to significantly improve the early stages of the drug discovery process, leading to the identification of the first active substance which will undergo further development. Usually, this is done by searching large libraries of randomly selected chemicals, which are mostly inactive and not novel. This, however, results in a low probability of finding a compound with the desired biological profile worth pursuing further. It is also a very time-consuming and expensive process. In order to mitigate these problems, Selvita will create a service platform, called ProBiAI, that will use much smaller libraries of compounds with targeted biological properties using novel structures. This platform will integrate structure design, parallel synthesis and automatic compound purification, all of which will be optimized using artificial intelligence methods. What distinguishes this type of libraries is a much greater probability of identifying biologically active substances with better patentability, faster and cheaper.
Development of innovative compounds with therapeutic potential and a good IP position, which can be executed within an optimal time and budget, is one of the greatest challenges that biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are currently facing. The aim of our project is to optimize the initial stages of the drug discovery process, including the design of compound structures with therapeutic potential, as well as the effective synthesis and purification of the designed target compound libraries.
To achieve our goal, we intend to create a platform that integrates the design of structures and the planning of parallel synthesis and automatic purification, based on the available scientific data, using artificial intelligence methods. Our platform will not only help to accelerate the process of discovering new drugs but will also increase the likelihood of discovering effective therapies, which may be of particular interest to our clients – comments Mirosława Zydroń, PhD Eng, Member of the Management Board and Director of the Chemistry Department at Selvita S.A.