Target Enabling Packages (TEPs)

Overview

Available TEPs

Download as TSV

TEPs that have been approved by our external Evaluation Group are available via the links below.

The TEP Target List

The target list has been derived from nominations from both academia and industry with the expertise in key disease areas that are the focus of this programme: cancer, neuropsychiatry, inflammation, infectious diseases, metabolic disorders and rare diseases. Nominations are prioritised using the following criteria:

• Robustness of available gene-disease association data
• Significance of disease phenotype
• Biological plausibility
• Need for reagents to enable post-gene work (lack of structural and biochemical data)
• Feasibility of producing a high quality TEP with our methodologies
• Prospects for exploiting TEPs, such as existence of downstream communities or collaborators who are committed to using the TEP

Note that becuase the degree of genetic linkage with disease covers a broad spectrum ranging from monogenic (e.g. rare diseases, cancer) through to weaker polygenic (e.g. in some neurological diseases), we do not necessarily prioritise TEP targets based upon such linkages alone. Indeed, we may prioritise targets where there is weak linkage on the basis that TEP components would help to accelerate the understanding of the relevance of that linkage.

The current target list can be downloaded here.

How do I nominate targets as possible TEPs?

The SGC aims to promote exploration of new drug targets for treatment of human diseases in four broad therapeutic areas: Neuropsychiatry, Metabolic and other Rare diseases, Cancer, and Inflammation.

We are seeking nominations of new disease-linked genes, identified through genomic or gene expression research. We will then, possibly in collaboration with the nominating scientist, generate the purified proteins encoded by the disease-linked genes; functional assays; atomic-resolution structures; and chemical starting points. The data and reagents will be available to the wider research community, and in particular to our existing network of collaborators ranging from medicinal chemists to clinicians, which will ensure a rapid impact. 

Targets will be prioritised according to the following criteria:

1. Robust disease link (Genetic or expression data)
2. Plausible therapeutic hypothesis
3. Need for tools (proteins, structures, assays, small molecules, antibodies)
4. Prospects for collaborative research and downstream utilisation.

To nominate targets please download the Target nomination form and upload using the links below:

 Target nomination form (.xlsx)

• Neuropsychiatry neurodegeneration:  Contact     Nomination form 
• Metabolic and other rare diseases:  Contact     Nomination form 
• Cancer:  Contact     Nomination form 
• Immune:  Contact     Nomination form (See related ULTRA-DD project)

How we generate and disseminate TEPs

We work closely with disease experts, clinicians, geneticists and industry experts in each of the key disease areas via our Target Prioritisation Networks (TPNs). These networks ensure that we prioritise our work on the targets which are most likely to lead to downstream utility once a TEP is released. The generation of the content of each TEP often directly involves collaborations with the nominator ensuring that that the TEP contains relevant and enabling reagents, data and knowledge.

Each TEP is carefully scrutinised by the TEP Evaluation Group, chaired by Prof. Mike Ferguson (Dundee), which makes the final decision on whether a TEP is suitable to be accepted for release to the public.

Our extensive network of partners and collaborators ensures that our TEPs are rapidly taken up and their contents used to study the biochemistry, structural and chemical biology of the target concerned.