Capabilities and research platforms
We have expertise in structure-based drug design, fragment-based drug discovery and structure-activity guided medicinal chemistry. Most of our research projects also involve considerable synthetic and organic chemistry.
In addition to drug discovery, our capabilities include optimising existing drugs through the study, identification and synthesis of metabolic products and related compounds, and developing chemical probes to study the molecular basis of disease, identify potential new drug targets and improve disease diagnosis.
Research platforms
Medicinal Chemistry theme hosts two research platforms: the Australian Translational Medicinal Chemistry Facility (ATMCF) and the Monash Fragment Platform (MFP).
Australian Translational Medicinal Chemistry Facility (ATMCF)
ATMCF is a purpose-designed, outward-facing, collaborative facility that supports early stage medicinal chemistry-led drug discovery. ATMCF provides medicinal chemistry insight and expertise and a translational bridge between early-stage biology and translational lead optimisation and pre-clinical development.
Monash Fragment Platform (MFP)
MFP designs and runs fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) campaigns for new therapeutic targets. FBDD screening uses a high-quality, in-house fragment library designed to maximise chemical space coverage and enable rapid hit optimisation. Screening cascades are tailored and use a variety of physical techniques such as NMR and surface plasmon resonance. Bespoke medicinal chemistry support subsequently facilitates Rapid Elaboration of Fragments into Leads to power translation.