Drug discovery via an online portal

The Compounds Australia Structure PoRtal (CASPeR) is a newly released online portal providing access to the data of more than 50,000 different compounds and samples, linking Australian researchers in a way that has not been possible previously.

Developed between two departments within Griffith University — eResearch Services and Compounds Australia — the portal was introduced at Fragment-Based Drug Design Down Under, a conference taking place this week in Melbourne. It has been described by Compounds Australia Chair Sally-Ann Poulsen as “a powerful initiative to assist the health and medical researchers in Australia to access high-quality compounds crucial for therapeutic drug discovery”.

The portal works by enabling researchers to search for the chemical structure they believe will assist their work. The database will offer up the best match, delivering information directly to researchers by providing individual chemical properties; compound structures; structure-searching capabilities; and up-to-date library numbers on accessible compounds and samples.

According to Compounds Australia Manager Moana Simpson, the portal substantially increases the value of the nation’s compound collections by “enhancing access to up-to-date information on chemicals”. Jenny Martin, director of Griffith’s Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, added that it “links our nation’s fantastic and unique chemistry with the world’s biologists” and will “build collaborations in science so that new discoveries relating to a better understanding of disease mechanisms are fast-tracked”.

Fragment-Based Drug Design Down Under runs from 12–15 July at Monash University. For more information about the event, visit http://fbddoz.com.au/.