11 August 2025
In an exclusive interview with opnMe.com, representatives from the Drug Discovery Hub, a pioneering initiative between Imperial College London and the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS), shared insights into their groundbreaking work and the significant role of collaborations in accelerating drug discovery.
opnMe.com: Can you tell us about the Drug Discovery Hub and its mission?
Benedikt Holbling and Viacheslav Trush: Absolutely. The Drug Discovery Hub is a collaborative effort between Imperial College London and the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences. Our primary focus is on high-throughput screening, especially of small molecules. While we primarily support these two institutions, our collaborations extend to other universities and companies. Our goal is to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial application, thereby accelerating translational research. We provide comprehensive services including access to high-throughput screening facilities, library screening, assay development and optimization, hit identification and characterization, H2L support, and educational training.
opnMe.com: How does the collaboration with opnMe.com enhance your efforts?
Benedikt Holbling and Viacheslav Trush: The collaboration with opnMe is invaluable. The high-quality molecules from opnMe, which will be added to our existing compound library of approximately 60,000 molecules, are particularly beneficial for our phenotypic screening pipeline. These compounds not only offer us and our collaborators deeper mechanistic insights into phenotypic changes but also serve as essential tool and control compounds. Overall, this partnership significantly bolsters our scientific resources and expertise.
opnMe.com: Why is sharing molecules with the scientific community so important?
Benedikt Holbling and Viacheslav Trush: Sharing molecules like those from opnMe with the wider scientific community is crucial for breaking down barriers and increasing accessibility to valuable resources. We firmly believe that collaborations between academia and industry, along with initiatives like opnMe, are essential for driving innovation and expediting the drug discovery process. It’s about creating a more open and collaborative scientific environment.
opnMe.com: Can you describe your experience working with the opnMe team?
Benedikt Holbling and Viacheslav Trush: Our interaction with the opnMe team has been incredibly smooth and straightforward. The process of ordering the entire molecule collection was quick and seamless. We are very grateful for the support and the ease of the entire experience.
opnMe.com: What do you hope to achieve through this collaboration?
Benedikt Holbling and Viacheslav Trush: Our aim is to leverage the shared resources and expertise to support the scientific community more effectively. By integrating opnMe’s high-quality molecules into our workflows, we hope to accelerate the pace of discovery and development in drug research, ultimately contributing to the advancement of medical science and patient care.
This partnership between the Drug Discovery Hub and opnMe.com exemplifies the power of collaboration in the scientific community, promising to accelerate innovation and make significant strides in drug discovery and development.
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About opnMe:
opnMe.com, the open innovation portal of Boehringer Ingelheim, fosters science and collaboration initiatives in areas of high unmet medical need. With “Molecules to Order”, we share well-characterized tool compounds free of charge with no IP strings attached. These are complemented by “Molecules for Collaboration” where we offer access to unprecedented molecules, with the chance to get your research proposal funded. With our “opn2EXPERTS” and “techMATCH” programs, we enlist scientific advice on key scientific issues to fuel further drug discovery and deliver novel solutions that benefit unmet patient needs. Our “opn2TALENTS” postdoc grants awards opportunities for high-level talents to pitch their scientific ideas and approaches for a well-defined research question, to conduct their research at one of our discovery research sites in Germany, Austria, or the US.