Fragment screening to fight COVID-19

The hunt for therapeutics to combat the COVID-19 virus has driven unprecedented collaborations worldwide in what is seen as the greatest example of ‘open science’ in modern times.

Diamond has led an international research team to develop antiviral targeting of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, a spike protein that helps the virus bind to human cells. The team led by Martin Walsh, Deputy Life Sciences Director at Diamond Light Source involved expertise from across Diamond’s MX and XChem teams, including Alex Dias and Ailsa Powell from the Industrial Liaison Group. 

The team used Fragment Screening to study the structure of the proteins and understand their interactions with cellular receptors in the body. This valuable insight will enable scientists to identify targets for new therapeutics and prevent viral infection/replication.

This work has been published in Nature Communications and has played a key role in developing structure-based drug design against SARS-CoV-2 protease.

To find out more, read our case study.

We also have a dedicated website for COVID-19 updates with more in-depth information..