Biomedical research at USC enables the discovery of numerous genes and proteins as promising targets for the treatment of major human conditions, from pain, neurodegenerative and inflammatory disease, to cancer. However, a major gap has existed in converting these target discoveries into new viable drug candidates for preclinical and clinical development. The PHysics and AI-based Steered Drug Discovery Center (PHAST-DDC) aims to close this gap by leveraging new state-of-the-art technologies for drug discovery, established at USC. PHAST-DDC unites experts from three USC schools to establish a fast and cost-effective pipeline for discovering new patentable chemical leads, probes, and potential drug candidates.
PHAST-DDC employs computer-driven drug discovery technologies that combine physical modeling and AI, including V-SYNTHES2 and V-SYNTHES-DL developed in Dr. Katritch’s lab, which now enables rapid, cost-effective drug screening of giga- and tera-scale chemical spaces (e.g. xREAL) in academic settings. This technology, combined with structural biology (Dr. Cherezov), medical (Dr. Yassine), and pharmacology (Dr. Louie) expertise in a full discovery pipeline, has already been proven in several projects, bringing USC major NIH grants, new startups, and IP licensing in the last two years. The PHAST-DDC will implement the computer-driven drug discovery platform across the entire university. and make it accessible to any faculty interested in engaging in drug discovery for their protein target(s).
