Open Source Drug Discovery

Abstract

AbstractTuberculosis is a ravaging disease killing one person in every 1.5 minutes in India alone. Someone in the world is newly infected with TB bacilli every second. Overall, one-third of the world's population is currently infected with the TB bacillus. Left untreated, each person with active TB disease will infect on average between 10 and 15 people every year. 450 000 new MDR-TB cases are estimated to occur every year. Estimated 5% of TB patients are HIV infected. Although the complete genome sequence of the causative pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis was published about a decade ago and many years of painstaking efforts have been invested, we are still far from having a good, fast acting drug and vaccine which confers long lasting protection. Despite increasing investment, led by charities including the Gates Foundation, no novel drugs for TB have entered the market for many years.Novel mechanisms for attracting funding, particularly private sector funding, into this research area are desperately needed. We wish to bring in the power of genomics, computational technologies and participation of young and brilliant talent from Universities and Industrial partners with a strong inclination to apply a concerted effort to address this important scourge. All researchers contribute data on tuberculosis drug targets and active molecules through a copyleft agreement; anyone who is prepared to keep to this may participate. All the data is Clickwrap protected and credit sharing will be based on a novel and flexible micro-attribution system. This system is aimed at providing due credit through an active process. Various levels of investigators shall have appropriate levels of rights, recognition and responsibilities.Another valuable aspect is the partnerships of Industry with belief in Open Source systems and models. We name this concerted effort to tackle this dreaded disease as Open Source Drug Discovery for Tuberculosis.