The Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) is unique: a complete “biotech-style” drug discovery research lab delivering candidate drugs, derisked drug targets and commercialisation opportunities across multiple disease areas within the university of Dundee. The DDU brings together assay development, screening, cell biology, medicinal chemistry, structural biology, computational chemistry and Drug Metabolism and Pharmocokinetics (DMPK), in one integrated, purpose-built facility. We collaborate with partners globally to identify potential drug targets, lead compounds, candidate drugs and novel tools and approaches to develop improved treatments for a wide range of debilitating and deadly diseases. The DDU has the full repertoire of professional, industry-standard expertise and infrastructure required for early-stage drug discovery. These disciplines work together closely in an integrated management structure.
Our mission is to exploit the potential of unexplored therapeutic target pathways and turn innovative discovery science into candidate medicines that will make a difference to patients’ lives.
The DDU is also a critical component of the Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research (WCAIR). The WCAIR mission, with its partners, is to be at the cutting edge of how to prosecute drug discovery for major infectious diseases affecting low-and middle-income countries.
The DDU tackles unmet medical need through small molecule drug discovery, bridging the gap between academic scientific research and commercial and charitable drug discovery and development. We draw on the best of these worlds, employing highly skilled, experienced scientists from academic and pharmaceutical industry backgrounds, with a professional, pioneering approach to our work.
We have two core areas of activity:
→ Anti-infectives drug discovery, current portfolios cover Kinetoplastid diseases, Tuberculosis, Apicomplexans and Covid.
→ Innovative targets and pathways, working on therapeutic areas of unmet medical need such as neurodegeneration, inflammation, diseases of ageing and oncology tapping into the wealth of world-class academic research globally to identify new drug targets.
The DDU attracts expertise from across the biopharmaceutical industry and academia. Combined with our outstanding facilities, this has created a unique environment for industry ready drug discovery research within an academic environment.
Currently we have 130 staff, have 4 compounds in clinical development, secured more than £100m in research funding and 6 new companies have been established with DDU assets.