IMI European Lead Factory — democratizing access to high-throughput screening

The European Lead Factory combines assets and experience from major pharma with innovation and agility of academia and SMEs in a collaborative platform to expand access to high-throughput screening. With many successes heading towards the clinic, the organization is broadening its approach to screening and partnering.
By
  1. Philip S. Jones

    1. BioAscent Discovery, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

  2. Sylviane Boucharens

    1. BioAscent Discovery, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

  3. Stuart P. McElroy

    1. BioAscent Discovery, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

  4. Angus Morrison

    1. BioAscent Discovery, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

  5. Saman Honarnejad

    1. Pivot Park Screening Centre, Oss, the Netherlands.

  6. Stan van Boeckel

    1. Pivot Park Screening Centre, Oss, the Netherlands. Present address: Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.

  7. Helma van den Hurk

    1. Pivot Park Screening Centre, Oss, the Netherlands. Present address: DeSeizoenen B.V, Oploo, the Netherlands.

  8. Daniel Basting

    1. Bayer AG, Berlin, Frankfurt and Wuppertal, Germany.

  9. Jörg Hüser

    1. Bayer AG, Berlin, Frankfurt and Wuppertal, Germany.

  10. Stefan Jaroch

    1. Bayer AG, Berlin, Frankfurt and Wuppertal, Germany.

  11. Eckhard Ottow

    1. Bayer AG, Berlin, Frankfurt and Wuppertal, Germany.

  12. Jorg Benningshof

    1. Symeres, Groningen and Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

  13. Rutger H. A. Folmer

    1. Symeres, Groningen and Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

  14. Frank Leemhuis

    1. Symeres, Groningen and Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

  15. Patricia M. Kramer-Verhulst

    1. Lygature, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

  16. Vera J. M. Nies

    1. Lygature, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

  17. Kristina M. Orrling

    1. Lygature, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

  18. Ton Rijnders

    1. Lygature, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

  19. Claudia Pfander

    1. ARTTIC S.A.S., Munich, Germany. Present address: EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany.

  20. Ola Engkvist

    1. AstraZeneca Discovery Sciences, Gothenburg, Sweden.

  21. Garry Pairaudeau

    1. AstraZeneca Discovery Sciences, Gothenburg, Sweden. Present address: Exscientia, Oxford, United Kingdom.

  22. Peter B. Simpson

    1. AstraZeneca Discovery Sciences, Gothenburg, Sweden. Present address: Medicines Discovery Catapult, Macclesfield, United Kingdom.

  23. Jean-Yves Ortholand

    1. Edelris, Lyon, France.

  24. Didier Roche

    1. Edelris, Lyon, France.

  25. Alexander Dömling

    1. Groningen University, Groningen, the Netherlands.

  26. Sven M. Kühnert

    1. Grünenthal, Aachen, Germany.

  27. Peter W. M. Roevens

    1. Janssen Research & Development, Beerse, Belgium.

  28. Herman van Vlijmen

    1. Janssen Research & Development, Beerse, Belgium.

  29. Eva J. A. van Wanrooij

    1. Janssen Research & Development, Beerse, Belgium.

  30. Christophe Verbruggen

    1. Janssen Research & Development, Beerse, Belgium.

  31. Peter Nussbaumer

    1. Lead Discovery Center GmbH, Dortmund, Germany.

  32. Huib Ovaa

    1. Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands.

  33. Mario van der Stelt

    1. Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.

  34. Klaus Baek Simonsen

    1. Lundbeck, Copenhagen, Denmark.

  35. Lena Tagmose

    1. Lundbeck, Copenhagen, Denmark.

  36. Herbert Waldmann

    1. Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany.

  37. James Duffy

    1. Medicines for Malaria Venture, Geneva, Switzerland.

  38. Dirk Finsinger

    1. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

  39. Mirek Jurzak

    1. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

  40. Nicola A. Burgess-Brown

    1. University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. Present address: Exact Sciences, Oxford, United Kingdom.

  41. Wen H. Lee

    1. University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. Present address: Action Against Age-related Macular Degeneration, London, United Kingdom.

  42. Floris P. J. T. Rutjes

    1. Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

  43. Hubert Haag

    1. Sanofi, Frankfurt, Germany.

  44. Christopher Kallus

    1. Sanofi, Frankfurt, Germany. Present address: Bayer AG, Berlin, Frankfurt and Wuppertal, Germany.

  45. Hartmut Mors

    1. Sanofi, Frankfurt, Germany.

  46. Thierry Dorval

    1. Servier Research Institute, Paris, France.

  47. Brigitte Lesur

    1. Servier Research Institute, Paris, France.

  48. Fernando Ramon Olayo

    1. Servier Research Institute, Paris, France.

  49. Daniel Hamza

    1. Sygnature Discovery, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

  50. Geraint Jones

    1. Sygnature Discovery, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

  51. Christopher Pearce

    1. Sygnature Discovery, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

  52. Alexander Piechot

    1. Taros Discovery, Dortmund, Germany.

  53. Dimitrios Tzalis

    1. Taros Discovery, Dortmund, Germany.

  54. Mads H. Clausen

    1. Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.

  55. Jeremy Davis

    1. UCB, Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium.

  56. Daphné Derouane

    1. UCB, Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium.

  57. Céline Vermeiren

    1. UCB, Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium.

  58. Markus Kaiser

    1. University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.

  59. Robert A. Stockman

    1. University Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

  60. Denise V. Barrault

    1. University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom. Present address: Exscientia, Oxford, United Kingdom.

  61. Andrew D. Pannifer

    1. University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom. Present address: Exscientia, Oxford, United Kingdom.

  62. Jason R. Swedlow

    1. University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.

  63. Adam S. Nelson

    1. University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.

  64. Romano V. A. Orru

    1. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Present address: Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

  65. Eelco Ruijter

    1. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

  66. Steven P. van Helden

    1. Pivot Park Screening Centre, Oss, the Netherlands.

  67. Volkhart M. Li

    1. Bayer AG, Berlin, Frankfurt and Wuppertal, Germany.

  68. Ton Vries

    1. Symeres, Groningen and Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

  69. Jon S. B. de Vlieger

    1. Lygature, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

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Small-molecule drug discovery begins with a therapeutic rationale but rapidly progresses to requiring chemical matter to validate the rationale and provide the chemical basis for a potential new medicine. Multiple strategies exist for generating this chemical matter, but a mainstay for more than 25 years has been diversity-based high-throughput screening (HTS)1. Due to the considerable infrastructural requirements (including a large, high-quality compound library, compound logistics expertise, and automated assay development and execution) the ability to perform such screening and the expertise to interpret and develop the output has traditionally resided within large pharma companies. The European Lead Factory (ELF) is a consortium of industry and academic partners that was set up in 2013 to expand access to and increase the application of this critical technique for lead generation.

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Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 21, 245-246 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-021-00196-3

Acknowledgements

The European Lead Factory has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking under grant agreement no. 115489, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme and EFPIA companies' in-kind contribution. This project has also received funding from the IMI-2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement no. 806948. The JU receives support from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the EFPIA and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

Disclaimer

This communication reflects the views of the authors and neither IMI nor the European Union and EFPIA are liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 24 January 2022: Andrew D. Pannifer was missing from the list of consortium authors, and this has been corrected.

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Competing Interests

The following authors are employed by companies as indicated in more detail by their affiliations: P.S.J., S.B., S.P.M, A.M., S.P.V.H., S.H., S.V.B., H.V.D.H., V.M.L., D.B., J.H., S.J., E.O., T.V., J.B., R.H.A.F., F.L., J.S.B.D.V., P.M.K.-V., V.J.M.N., K.M.O., T.R., C.P., O.E., G.P., P.B.S., J.-Y. O., D.R., S.M.K., P.W.M.R., H.V.V., E.J.A.V.W., C.V., P.N., K.B.S., L.T., D.F., M.J., N.A.B.-B., H.H., C.K., H.M., T.D., B.L., F.R.O., D.H., G.J., C.P., A.P., D.T., J.D., D.D., C.V., D.V.B. and A.D.P.

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