Baylor College of Medicine Discovers Chemical Compound Approach for COVID-19 Drug Development

Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine have devised a chemical approach for discovering new enzyme-binding compounds that could be developed into drugs for various illnesses and conditions. This process can be used to support development of novel antiviral drugs for use in the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The study, published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, was co-led by Dr. Surendra Dawadi, instructor in the Center for Drug Discovery at Baylor, and Dr. Martin M. Matzuk, professor and interim chair of the Department of Pathology & Immunology and director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Baylor.

“The study demonstrates that a powerful drug discovery approach, DNA-encoded chemical library technology, can be successfully used for the discovery of drug-like small molecules to inhibit some classes of protease enzymes, which are involved in various pathophysiological processes related to disease or injury,” said Dawadi.