Identifying novel brain active molecules: Developing an integrated bioengineering & in silico screening platform technology (IBIS)

The major imperative of the pharmaceutical industry is to effectively translate insights gained from basic research into new medicines. This task is toughest for brain disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The WHO has indicated that this will become the major medical need of the 21st century. Brain drugs take longer to get to market and their attrition rate is greater, because of the presence of the blood-brain-barrier (BBB), which severely restricts the movement of medicines into the brain. In this industry led project we intend to explore the feasibility of a platform technology to screen for production of novel natural bioactive molecules by microbial biotransformation that are capable of crossing the BBB. The project success provides a unique business opportunity for SME partners for revenue growth, extra chemical library resources to pharmaceutical R&D and the potential to develop new therapies for the treatment of neurological diseases for patients.