The European Lead Factory (ELF), which is currently funded through the IMI-funded ESCulab project, is for the first time offering its services and assets to charities and foundations around the world. With this move, the ELF aims to reach the larger drug discovery community and explore unchartered biological territory to address unmet medical needs.
The charities and foundations that enter into a collaboration with the ELF will gain access to a high-quality library of 535,000 chemical compounds, industry-standard ultra-high-throughput and high content screening facilities, as well as access to the ELF network of drug discovery experts.
ELF’s services were previously only open to European researchers eligible for IMI funding. Through this initiative, the ELF hopes to boost charity-funded science, provide novel chemical starting points for the development of new treatments, and ultimately contribute to improving global health and well-being. Follow in the steps of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, they invite charities and foundations to join them in creating an impact in the drug discovery space.
With this move, the ELF and partners will be able to gain new partnering opportunities in Europe and beyond and explore uncharted biological territory through the sourcing of new targets, pathways, and phenotypes to address unmet medical needs
They hope that by joining, the partners will give their drug discovery programmes a major boost and play a role in creating a more innovative drug discovery landscape that will have a greater impact on society. They also hope to push charity-funded science forward.
The ELF and ESCulab projects are supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry.