Nomination of targets for SGC Target Enabling Package Programme

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:

Robust disease link (Genetic or expression data)
Plausible therapeutic hypothesis
Need for tools (proteins, structures, assays, small molecules, antibodies)
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
Inflammation: ULTRA-DD

Target Enabling Packages: from genetic hits to therapeutic targets

The explosion in genomic sequencing and expression analysis has led to a continuous discovery of genes and variants linked to human disease. The utilization of these discoveries to develop new drugs is often hampered by the lack of specific assays and protein structural data, which are needed for the development of small molecule modulators. The SGC aims to bridge this gap between genes and small molecules by generating a set of data and reagents which we call Target Enabling Packages (TEPs). A TEP includes methods for producing the recombinant target protein (and variants linked to disease); atomic-resolution structures of the target proteins; functional in-vitro assays to decipher the activity of the target protein and to identify inhibitors or activators; and chemical starting points for drug development. In the area of inflammatory diseases, we will develop the chemical starting points further into small molecules (“chemical probes”) with a high degree of potency and selectivity, and test these in primary human cells.