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Small Molecules
Small molecules play a crucial role in cancer therapy due to their targeted action, ease of administration, and adaptability in combination therapies. Their ability to overcome drug resistance and the historical success of small molecule therapies underscores their significance in oncology.
Cancer treatment is not only about administrating a treatment that works but also about avoiding the prescription of something that does not work or hardly works.
There are no secrets to success in drug discovery. The primary ingredients are diligence, hard work and learning from failure.
Understanding where, when, and how a small molecule engages its target is critical throughout the drug discovery process, from early hit optimization to preclinical development.
Tap into the potential of accelerated small molecule discovery and development, leveraging innovations to de-risk the process.
The Small Molecules Workstream focuses on translating fundamental discoveries into new cancer therapies, while integrating Oncode Accelerator's three innovation Platforms (Patient Cohorts, Organoids and Artificial Intelligence) at different stages of the drug development pipeline. Discovery and development work aiming to accelerate the preclinical stages for new compounds is conducted in leading academic facilities or through renowned industry partners.
Access state-of-the-art infrastructure, backed by scientific know-how and industry leaders.
Key to the success of the Oncode Accelerator program is the selection and execution of high-quality Demonstrator Projects which aim to both validate the Oncode Accelerator infrastructure while simultaneously addressing unmet medical needs. We invite international cancer researchers, from across academia and industry to apply for a Demonstrator Project and partner with us for preclinical development of promising assets.
By combining the key capabilities of our Workstreams with the innovations from our Platforms we create a synergistic effect resulting in better therapies, tailored to individual patients or patient subgroups.
Click on the arrows below to understand how Oncode Accelerator supports cancer researchers and drug developers in turning small molecule assets into de-risked clinical candidates through Demonstrator Projects.
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Are you looking to...
- Produce, purify and characterize proteins for assay development and structural biological analysis
- Accelerate your lead discovery project with in silico, phenotypic and high throughput screening
- Improve Hit to Clinical Candidate development using medicinal chemistry, structural biology (cryo-EM, X-Ray), ADME-T and pharmacokinetics
- Use AI to predict the direct and indirect cellular targets of leads and clinical candidates
- Apply activity-based protein profiling (chemical proteomics) to study compound cellular selectivity and target engagement
- Determine the cellular effects of small molecules via proteomics and metabolomics
- Run microdosing studies to assess pharmacokinetics in a phase 0 study
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Would you like to utilize...
The state-of-the-art facilities from our academic and industry partners?
- Symeres, Medicinal Chemistry and ADME
- Leiden University, Chemical Probe Facility
- Netherlands Cancer Institute, Protein and Robotics and Screening Center (NRSC)
- TNO, target safety assessment and Accelerated Mass Spectrometry (AMS), Phase 0 Microdosing facility
- Peregrion, Accelerated Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Phase 0 Microtracing facility
- Leiden University Medical Center, Screening Center
- Omivera: live cell selectivity profiling
- Oncode Insitute, Proteomics Facility
- CrossFire Oncology, Chemistry & Design
Highly advanced equipment with leading scientific expertise to be used for various applications such as whole proteome measurements, post-translational modification (PTM) analyses (phospho, acetyl, etc.) and identification of protein-protein interactions?
- Cryoelectron microscopy (Cryo-EM) at the Netherlands Centre for Electron Nanoscopy (NeCEN)
- N-STORM super resolution confocal microscope (Nikon Eclipse Ti2-E)
- Cutting-edge mass spectrometry equipment (Thermo Fisher Orbitrap Astral and Eclipse, Bruker TimsTOF HT)
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Why should this be of interest?
Once a Demonstrator Project is approved, new partners that join our program can make use of AI-assisted multiparameter compound design, streamlining the design-synthesis-testing process. This may improve hit-to-lead and lead-to-candidate optimization by considering multiple design goals (affinity, selectivity and synthesizability), and reduce the number of optimization cycles needed eventually leading to increased throughput and reduced costs.
In addition, a factor contributing to the high failure rate of drugs in clinical trials is the heterogeneity of recruited patients. Demonstrator Projects can leverage well-defined patient cohort data and disease relevant patient-derived organoid models early in the preclinical stages of the drug development pipeline, placing the patient at the core of small molecule drug development. This approach allows for the dynamic adjustment of a small molecule's trajectory and supports patient stratification and the selection of the right target population, which may help de-risk the process.
Patient Cohorts Organoids Artificial Intelligence
A Demonstrator Project can be executed at any stage of the Workstream pipeline and incorporates at least one of the innovative Platforms (Patient Cohorts, Organoids and/or Artificial Intelligence). The stages are designed to ensure that potential oncology therapies are thoroughly evaluated and de-risked before moving on to clinical trials. One stage of a pipeline will be one Demonstrator Project, eligible for up to 50% co-funding.
Contact us and learn more about how to join our program.
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Oncode Accelerator is a dynamic collaboration of more than 35 public and private partners. The following consortium partners are part of the Small Molecules Workstream.
Below is a curated selection of scientific publications by the Workstream Small Molecules. Click on each publication to access the full text online.