Drug discovery

The Drug discovery group works to leverage pharmaceutical innovation in Brazil, combining two of the country’s main competitive differentials: its rich biodiversity and cutting-edge research and science infrastructure. To do so, a platform was created that allows discovery initiatives to be carried out in a fluid and effective manner. At the same time, a modus operandi was developed to connect the resulting knowledge with technological development for industry, allowing solid management of these activities and legally secure administration of partnerships. An interdisciplinary team equipped with up-to-the-moment technology and advanced databases connects Brazilian biodiversity with pharmaceutical innovation.

Customized drug discovery methods benefit from more modern twenty-first century methods that include advanced computation and cutting-edge research to make new discoveries feasible. These methods involve miniaturized and automated experimental techniques to assess the chemistry of Brazilian biodiversity (such as LC-MS/MS untargeted metabolomics), evaluating the pharmaceutical potential of these molecules (high-throughput screening bioassays, phenotyping and based on predefined targets), and capturing and understanding the way these molecules bind to the target proteins (crystallography of proteins in HT and crystallographic capture protocols).

LNBio is becoming well-established as the epicenter for studies involving Brazil’s biodiversity. The group manages a chemical library of the nation’s biodiversity and an integrated management system for compounds and data in line with good laboratory practices which permits traceability, the use of samples in various innovation projects, and benefit sharing with the community that provides the samples. The library contains roughly 10,000 chemical samples of this biodiversity, collected from roughly 1,000 plants, bacteria, and fungi over the past decade.

The lab maintains a pipeline with various research projects together with Institutions of Science and Technology (ICT), Brazilian pharmaceutical manufacturers, and companies specializing in bioprospecting for raw materials, developing customized innovative methods that will make it possible to develop pharmaceuticals from the country’s biodiversity, for Brazil and for the world.