Oxford firm to screen 15,000 drugs in search for coronavirus cure

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Northerner

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Type 1
An Oxford-based firm that uses artificial intelligence to develop new medicines has teamed up with a UK national science facility to screen more than 15,000 drugs for their effectiveness as a treatment for Covid-19.

Exscientia, a spinoff company from the University of Dundee that is now based in Oxford science park, said it had gained access to a large collection of existing drugs held by the Scripps research institute in California and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will screen them in partnership with Diamond Light Source near Oxford, which works like a giant microscope and generates bright light that allows scientists to study viruses.

Exscientia hopes to discover a drug that can be repurposed to treat coronavirus within the next six to 12 months, whereupon it would be tested on Covid-19 patients, Prof Andrew Hopkins, the firm’s chief executive, told the Guardian. Any potential treatment could be made available for compassionate use before clinical trials are completed, but this would depend on how much can be manufactured quickly.


What's the betting that metformin comes top of the list? The number of articles I have posted here over the past 10 years claiming it is helpful in treating a myriad of complaints must run into the humdreds! 😱 🙂
 
What they are looking for is new antiviral. With a bit of luck, they will hit upon something that knocks off any virus. If you aim for a specific virus, it will cheerfully mutate to tolerate such a drug.
 
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