Congratulations to the Centre for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CCBT) team for winning the best poster award at the 7th AP-ISSX conference held at the Grand Sheraton, Bangalore (30th January – 1st February 2023). The poster entitled “ Novel Chemical entities targeting SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like protease (PLpro)” was presented by Dhruv Sheth, Kavyashree Manjunath and Prasad Thazhe Kootteri. This study showcases the multidisciplinary, translational research at the CCBT, led by Neelagandan Kamariah, Anandi Karumbati and Ashok Venkitaraman. This program used a Structure-guided rational design approach for developing potent PLpro inhibitors spanning across computational and medicinal chemistry, assessment of target engagement, resolving co-crystal structure and in vitro antiviral activity. SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like protease (PLpro) inhibition with small molecules will not only prevent viral replication but also potentially restore host immune responses.
This poster was appreciated by renowned scientists both from academics and industry, including Dr Scott Obach (Vice-President, DMPK, Pfizer), Prof. Eric Chan (Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, NUS, Singapore, Dr. Jasminder Sahi (Senior Scientific Expert, Sanofi, USA) Dr Raju Subramanian (Executive Director, DMPK, (Gilead, Sciences, USA), Dr Krishna Iyer (Professor, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Bombay College of Pharmacy), Dr Bhagwat Prasad (Associate Professor, Washington State University, USA). Dr Karthik Venkatakrishnan (Vice President and Global Head, Quantitative Pharmacology, EMD Serono, USA) and Prof. Andrew Roland (Professor, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Australia). The team thanks SSX-India for an opportunity to present at this conference.
Dr Anandi Karumbati was part of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the 7th AP-ISSX 2023 conference. This is the first Asia -Pacific ISSX conference in India that is jointly organized by the Indian Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (SSX-India) and the International Society for Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX). Anandi chaired the symposium: “ Discovery and Development of New modalities: Challenges and perspectives” along with Dr Sandhya Mandlekar (Distinguished Scientist, Clinical Pharmacology Genentech, USA). The speakers in this session included Dr Natalie Hosea (Executive Director, Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Bristol Myers Squibb, USA), Dr Upendra Dahal (Senior Principal Scientist, PKDM, Amgen, USA) and Dr Masataka Oitate (Senior Director, DMPK, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., Japan)
