Small molecule high throughput screen using AstraZeneca facilities

Open UKRI funding opportunity · Grant. Closes 2027-01-28. Total fund £1 million. Opportunity page: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/small-molecule-high-throughput-screen-using-astrazeneca-facilities/

Apply for funding to run a high throughput screen (HTS) using AstraZeneca’s compound library and screening robots.

There are two funding opportunities per year, that are open to all targets.

What we're looking for Scope

The small molecule HTS using AstraZeneca facilities funding opportunity aims to support academic researchers in discovering potential starting points for small molecule medicinal drugs.

Academic researchers will benefit from unprecedented access to over two million molecules in AstraZeneca’s compound library, as well as its state-of-the-art high-throughput screening facilities.

Medical Research Council (MRC) will provide funding to support up to four projects per year. As capacity is limited, projects will be prioritised for funding and for time slots within the facility. The timeframe for commencement of the studies will vary, although the expectation is within six months of the funding decision.

AstraZeneca may offer to fund a project in its entirety if, based on the application, it considers that route to be the most appropriate funding mechanism for that individual study. In such cases, these will be taken forward through direct collaboration with the company without any further MRC involvement. Applicants who do not wish to accept this offer may continue to seek MRC support through the initiative.

AstraZeneca will provide technical input to support assay optimisation, investigation of alternative readout technologies and pilot HTS screen, prior to transfer of the assay to the HTS platform. Depending on the results of the optimisation, a compound set of between 100,000 and 1 million of the library will be screened.

Minimum assay development guidelines

There are a number of minimum assay development guidelines which when considered as a…