New drug candidates against COVID19 predicted by Cortex were successfully tested in the lab.
Our deep learning-based approach to Quantitative-Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) can predict thousands of pharmacological properties in all therapeutic areas, and for any compound.
Among these targets, we looked at a number of predictions relating to COVID19, including:
- SARS-CoV-2 inhibition in cell cultures,
- modulation of pathways interfering with the virus,
- inhibition of related viruses,
- cytotoxicity profiles.
Based on these predictions, we selected compounds with high antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2 among drugs in human trials for other indications. These compounds were never investigated for their potential antiviral activity in general, and against SARS-CoV-2 in particular.
The compounds were tested in vitro by an independent laboratory at Aarhus University (Denmark). The results showed that our candidates had strong antiviral activity in SARS-CoV2 infected cells and none of them was toxic at the active doses.
These results demonstrate our predictions’ outstanding accuracy and provide a glimpse of their immense potential for drug discovery.
If you are a potential customer, collaborator or investor, feel free to contact us to learn more about this experiment.