Development of novel protease inhibitors active against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

Effective anti-viral therapies are required to treat individuals infected by the SARS-Cov-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19. So far, only repurposed drugs have been investigated as treatment to fight SARS-Cov-2 infection. The goal of the project is to use our custom yeast-based screening platform in collaboration with the artificial intelligence algorithms of InVivo AI to develop specific inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 enzymes called proteases. The intern will develop novel assays for SARS-CoV-2 proteases, screen large libraries of compounds and, in conjunction with InVivo AI, analyse results using artificial intelligence. Invivo AI will benefit from this collaboration by gaining access to unpublished chemical screen data to improve and test their algorithms. Candidate hits found during this project may be further developed into prospective novel anti-viral treatments that could help ameliorate severe respiratory symptoms associated with COVID-19.

Faculty Supervisor:

Michael Tyers

Student:

Partner:

Valence Discovery Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Pharmaceuticals; Artificial Intelligence; Biotechnology; COVID-19 related Research and Solutions

University:

Université de Montréal

Program: