Barda and Clarivate Partner to Identify Therapeutics Which Can Be Repurposed as Medical Countermeasures to Chemical Exposure
November 08, 2021 at 08:00 am EST
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Clarivate Plc announced a new partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which provides an integrated, systematic approach to the development of the necessary vaccines, drugs, therapies, and diagnostic tools for public health medical emergencies. The new collaboration will leverage Clarivate Consulting Service's computational approach in identifying therapeutics for potential repurposing as medical countermeasures against chlorine and sulfur mustard induced injuries. Drug repurposing evaluates new uses, outside of the original clinical indication, for therapeutics approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or in late-stage development. BARDA funding will aid in target identification and drug factor analyses to identify potential drugs for repurposing to treat chemical agent exposure. These drugs may affect biological pathways that are implicated in chemical agent exposure or in the body's response to it and may already treat analogous diseases with similar biology but different causes. Such drugs, particularly when highly available in their pharmaceutical supply chain, may be studied and developed in an accelerated manner to provide reserve capacity in response to exposure events. Many chemical threats exist that can inflict injuries rapidly, and MCMs must be readily available to mitigate these risks. With conventional drug discovery involving costly and lengthy studies, using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and prioritize new targets for drug discovery and therapeutics that can be repurposed would help reduce the time and cost of preclinical drug development. As a company at the forefront of target identification, indication prioritization, mechanism reconstruction and drug repurposing work in the pharmaceutical industry, Clarivate will identify drugs that are commonly available and can be used as MCMs for exposure to chemical agents. The Clarivate suite of research intelligence solutions used in the project will include MetaBase, Cortellis Drug Discovery Intelligence, OFF-X, and real-world data featured within the Clarivate Research Intelligence Cloud. Paired with deep domain expertise, Clarivate will evaluate genomic experiments, systems and computational biology, as well as known protein-protein interactions and molecular pathways accessed through its proprietary curated databases. This approach is expected to provide a fast, focused method for screening drug candidates most likely to be repurposed successfully for treating chemical exposures. This effort to leverage AI is the first of its kind funded through the Repurposing Drugs in Response to Chemical Threats program under BARDA's Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures. The award is one component of BARDA's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) medical countermeasures and DRIVe's ReDIRECT portfolios. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under Contract No. 75A50121C00031.
Clarivate Plc is an information services provider. The Company provides information, analytics, professional services and workflow solutions that enable users across government and academic institutions, life science and healthcare companies, corporations and law firms to power the entire lifecycle, from cultivating curiosity to protecting critical intellectual property assets. Its segments include Academia & Government (A&G), Intellectual Property (IP), and Life Sciences & Healthcare (LS&H). The A&G segment provides curated, structured content, discovery solutions and related software applications that are embedded into the workflows of its customers, which include libraries, universities and research institutions. Its IP segment consists of patents, trademarks, and IP management products and solutions. The LS&H segment contains its products and solutions, which serve the content and analytical needs of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across the drug development lifecycle.