title: Screening strategies to identify new chemical diversity for drug development to treat kinetoplastid infections.
abstract: The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has defined and implemented an early discovery strategy over the last few years, in fitting with its virtual R&D business model. This strategy relies on a medium- to high-throughput phenotypic assay platform to expedite the screening of compound libraries accessed through its collaborations with partners from the pharmaceutical industry. We review the pragmatic approaches used to select compound libraries for screening against kinetoplastids, taking into account screening capacity. The advantages, limitations and current achievements in identifying new quality series for further development into preclinical candidates are critically discussed, together with attractive new approaches currently under investigation.
authors.affiliation: Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, 15 Chemin Louis-Dunant, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Don
authors.affiliation: Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, 15 Chemin Louis-Dunant, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Robert
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ioset
mesh_terms: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries