EU‐OPENSCREEN: Discovery and development of novel chemical probes through an international, collaborative model

Abstract

The majority of molecular biologists does not have ready access to suitable drug screening platforms and compound collections, which are generally expensive to purchase, operate and maintain. This represents a major limitation in the field to advance innovative drug discovery projects and chemical probe discovery projects in academia.With the aim to address this need, researchers from >20 institutions have joined forces to launch ‘EU‐OPENSCREEN’ (www.eu‐openscreen.eu), which offers international scientists access to a wide range of state‐of‐the‐art technology platforms, resources and expertise. This publicly funded initiative integrates high‐throughput screening (HTS) platforms and medicinal chemistry groups throughout Europe on a not‐for‐profit basis.The aim of EU‐OPENSCREEN is to collaboratively develop novel chemical probes together with external biologists and to support researchers seeking a better understanding on cellular phenomena by using chemical probes.Molecular biologists and biochemists who have a robust and HTS amenable assay, and are interested in developing novel potent chemical probes for their target of interest, can access EU‐OPENSCREEN's screening platforms on a collaborative basis and screen comprehensive, rationally designed screening collections with >100,000 compounds. After the primary screening, EU‐OPENSCREEN's medicinal chemists optimise the identified ‘hit’ compounds during the hit‐to‐probe program.I will explain how international biologists can access and collaborate with EU‐OPENSCREEN to advance their research projects, and highlight some recent collaborative research projects.