All reNEW nodes now have access to large compound libraries for drug screening and drug development research. This access has been secured through reNEW membership of Compounds Australia and will help identifying potential therapeutic compounds through the stem cell-based disease models within reNEW.
A step forward
Following successful acquisition of the reNEW compound library, reNEW Melbourne, Leiden and Copenhagen have all embraced membership of Compounds Australia. “Access to Compounds Australia is another step towards enabling high-content screening of stem cell derived organotypic models that could lead to the identification of small molecules for future therapies and provide new insights into disease biology,” says Kim Bak Jensen, principal investigator (PI) at reNEW Copenhagen. Christine Mummery, PI at reNEW Leiden and reSOLVE theme lead, agrees: “The reNEW library hosted by Compounds Australia is a unique resource for reNEW scientists which will greatly enhance their ability to identify new drugs using the human disease models developed in reSOLVE and ultimately bring these as innovative therapies to the clinic.“
Expert in sample management
Small molecule screening remains challenging in an academic setting, despite the proven success of this approach in drug development. Compounds Australia is a facility that provides organizations such as reNEW with logistics and cost-effective sample management during drug discovery, currently curating over 1,5 million compounds. For reNEW, the facility, located within the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, stores and curates a custom library consisting of 30,000 small molecules. This library was designed by a team led by reNEW Associate Investigator Kevin Watt and will be available to the reNEW nodes exclusively. “The library has now been acquired and deposited at Compounds Australia. All PIs will be able to interact with Compounds Australia directly. The library facilitates unrestricted, high-throughput screening efforts within reNEW,” says Watt.
A global partnership
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (including reNEW Melbourne) has partnered with Compounds Australia since 2019. This partnership is now extended to all reNEW nodes. Rebecca Lang, Operations Manager at Compounds Australia is excited about the new collaborations: “We are happy to partner with the other reNEW nodes as well and look after the reNEW library. Furthermore, we offer access to all other Compounds Australia Open Access libraries.” These services will aid drug development research within reNEW. Watt concludes: “Our hope is that this valuable resource will facilitate new avenues for drug development using stem cell models.”