ESCulab

In the early stages of drug discovery, scientists screen large numbers of chemical compounds in the hunt for potential new drugs or other interesting molecules that could be used in drug development. Accessing large, high quality compound collections for this is a challenge; IMI’s European Lead Factory project, which ran from 2013 to 2018, set up a collection of over half a million compounds and a state-of-the-art high throughput screening centre that gave a massive boost to drug discovery programmes in universities, small biotechs and large companies across Europe.

The aim of the ESCulab project is to build on the achievements of the European Lead Factory. This means that researchers with drug targets can apply to have their target screened free of charge against the project’s compound collection and get help developing any resulting hits further if they like. In total, ESCulab plans to run 185 new drug discovery projects during its lifetime. In the long term, the screening centre should become self-sustaining so that it can continue to provide these valuable services after the project has finished.