O Medicinal Chemistry Center (CQMED) from Unicamp signed last Friday (15) a cooperation agreement with the Structure-guided Drug Discovery Coalition (SDDC). The objective of the cooperation is to discover new molecules capable of combating tuberculosis and malaria. The agreement will last three years and will involve, in addition to CQMED, the Universities of Chicago (USA), Washington (USA) and Dundee (United Kingdom).
O Structure-guided Drug Discovery Coalition (SDDC) is an international consortium whose purpose is to research compounds that act in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis. To do this, it uses a drug discovery strategy focused on the three-dimensional structure of the target protein, which plays a key role in the development of the disease. SDDC also collaborates with two other international consortia, MALDA (Malaria Drug Accelerator) and the TBDA (TB Drug Accelerator). All of them are initiatives funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The total value of SDDC financing is R$27 million. CQMED will receive R$2,3 million over three years to invest in hiring postdoctoral fellows and purchasing reagents and equipment.
About CQMED
The Center for Medicinal Chemistry specializes in the early stages of developing new drugs. To this end, it developed a platform for discovering molecules that inhibit specific targets related to human diseases. It is located at Unicamp and is linked to the Institute of Biology (IB) and the Center for Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering (CBMEG). It was founded in 2015 through a project PITE-Fapesp and is accredited as a Embrapii Unit (Brazilian Research and Innovation Company). It is also part of the National Institutes of Science and Technology Program – INCT, supported by CNPq, Capes, CNPq and FAPESP.
