SARS-CoV-2 antivirals which have been clinically approved or are in late-stage development are directed against either the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) or the main protease (Mpro). With the possibility of resistance developing over time, there is a need for additional oral antivirals directed against currently undrugged viral targets. Conserved across coronaviruses, the SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease …Read More >

Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have emerged as promising therapeutic options for addressing type‐2 diabetes, obesity, and related conditions. However, because of the continued need for injectable administration, many GLP-1 agonists face compliance challenges. To improve the design and production of GLP-1 receptor biased agonists with enhanced druggability, a novel small molecule, designated SAL0112, was …Read More >

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) play a pivotal role in signaling pathways, and these transmembrane proteins represent an important drug target class. The majority of approved drugs that target GPCRs bind to traditional orthosteric sites. In a recent publication in Nature, Professor Brian Kobilka and his team at Stanford University successfully identified selective negative allosteric modulators …Read More >

High throughput experimentation (HTE) is frequently employed to identify reaction conditions for challenging transformations, giving access to a diverse array of medicinal chemistry targets. In parallel to using conventional batch reactions, we also incorporate flow chemistry into early phase synthesis to help with reaction selectivity and optimization, up-scaling, and solving specific chemical problems. In this …Read More >

Despite the availability of modern screening technologies, identification and optimization of hits against poorly druggable targets remains a significant challenge for drug discovery teams.  Generating hit matter and reference compounds with one screening technology and then screening with a second technology has the potential to be a powerful tool for researchers. At this year’s Oxford …Read More >

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is one of the most well-developed approaches for projects starting from small, low-affinity compounds.  At the SLAS 2024 meeting in Boston, WuXi AppTec presented a poster reporting on the assembly of a covalent fragment library that is suited to tackle protein targets via serine, lysine, and cysteine residues. In a case …Read More >

The recent publication in the journal Organic Letters, ‘DNA-Compatible Cyclization Reaction to Access 1,3,4-Oxadiazoles & 1,2,4-Triazoles‘ by our WuXi Biology DEL team, introduces two novel DNA-compatible reactions, successfully incorporating bioactive cores 1,3,4-oxadiazoles and 1,2,4-triazoles into the DEL library. These cores are reported to show broad ranges of biological activities, such as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antifungal, …Read More >

The contribution of the X-ray crystallography team from our WuXi AppTec site in Germany was acknowledged in a recent study published in the journal Cancer Discovery. In this study, the authors show that compound STX-478, an allosteric PI3Kα inhibitor, selectively targets prevalent PI3Kα helical- and kinase-domain mutant tumors. STX-478 demonstrated robust efficacy in human tumor …Read More >

Introduction: Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) has emerged as a promising therapeutic modality due to its potential to develop therapeutics for previously undruggable targets and address the resistance issues of small molecule inhibitors. Central to this strategy is the novel protein-degradation approach represented by proteolysis-targeting-chimeras (PROTACs), which induce targeted protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). …Read More >