Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP
Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP

Drug Screening & Compound Repurposing

For Drug Screening & Compound Repurposing, we provide access to a proven platform that delivers bench-to-bedside solutions—from preclinical target identification and translational research to compounds ready for clinical trials.

We can develop miniaturized, target-based assays for major protein classes using optical and label-free readouts, as well as complex 2D and 3D cell-based assays with state-of-the-art imaging readouts (Cell-Painting). These scalable assays can be screened against our full library of 500,000 diverse compounds, or a suitable subset, including target-class–focused, natural product, and drug repurposing collections, using our integrated, industry‑leading high-throughput screening hardware. Hit compounds from these campaigns undergo rigorous profiling across efficacy and ADMET panels, supported by robust informatics to enable rapid optimization to industry-standard Lead and clinical Candidate compounds.

 

Core Expertise:

  • State of the art tools and technologies for developing innovative assays, including optical, label-free and high content imaging
  • Access to a variety of small molecule compound libraries
  • Triaging of compounds using mechanism-of-action, selectivity and ADMET profiling
  • Delivery of high-quality compounds as starting points for drug discovery
  • Expertise in progressing compounds to industry standard Lead and Candidate milestones

 

Objectives/Services:

  • Best practices in assay development and screening: Expertise spanning a broad spectrum of assays, from target-based formats to complex 2D and 3D cell-based systems.
  • Access to compound libraries: Availability of diverse 500,000 compounds, or suitable subsets, including target-class–focused, natural product, and drug repurposing collections
  • Provision of automated screening infrastructure: Integrated, industry-leading high-throughput screening hardware supported by robust informatics for rapid decision-making
  • Development of drug discovery critical paths: Proven track record in designing and delivering critical pathways that accelerate projects toward high-value outcomesEntwicklung kritischer Pfade in der Wirkstoffforschung
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R4All

© REMEDi4ALL

R4All revolutionize the drug repurposing landscape in Europe by developing a comprehensive, accessible and standardized platform that provides the expertise, tools and resources needed at all stages of the repurposing journey. Our recent contribution to this project includes the evaluation of the publicly available patent database, SureChEMBL, to chemically annotate existing drugs in terms of their similarity and clinical success from a drug repurposing perspective.

Further Information

ERDERA

Exploring the rare Leigh syndrome mitochondrial disease which is an inherited, progressive disease that affects the brain, for which there is no cure and very limited treatment options. Based on neurons derived from patient-derived stem cells, the consortia conducted the largest screening process to tackle Leigh Syndrome ever against the ITMP drug repurposing collection and identified a compound subsequently used as an individual compassionate use to treat patients with a positive effect on the disease course in all patients treated.

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ProxiDETECT

Targeted degradation as a new mode of drug action: The ProxiDETECT sub-project aims to develop a versatile assay, screening and molecular profiling platform for the identification and characterization of prodrug molecules, with a particular focus on molecular glues for the treatment of neurological diseases. It will extend the PROXIDRUGS toolbox to include a degradation-focused compound library, signal-on screening assays, novel reporter molecules and a platform for mechanistic studies in a disease-relevant cellular context.

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CanSERV

CanSERV provides cutting edge, interdisciplinary and customized oncology-related research services to all scientists in EU member countries, associated countries and beyond. The ITMP is offering experimental services related to Generation and validation of in-vitro disease model (2/3D cultures and organoids) and high-content image-based profiling of compounds and high-throughput microscopy services, including those applied on patient-derived cells as well as high quality training in drug discovery.

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EU-OPENSCREEN

To ensure that EU-OPENSCREEN continues to offer a comprehensive suite of relevant services and support a growing user community to conduct forefront research, IMPULSE develops, validates and integrates new services in AI/ML, new chemical modalities, and innovative disease-relevant cell models combined with CRISPR-Cas9/RNAi-based genetic screening. The ITMP has a core role in implementation of common operational and data standards to increase data reproducibility and FAIRness, thereby ensuring operational excellence and reproducibility in pre-clinical drug discovery.

Further Information

Zink A, Dai DF, Wittich A, Henke MT, Pedrotti, Giulia, Heiduschka S, ... Stach D, Reinshagen J, Haferkamp U, Krieg K, Zaliani A, ..., Brunetti D, Del Sol A, Bottani E, Pless O, Schuelke M, Prigione A. 
Pluripotent stem-cell-based screening uncovers sildenafil as a mitochondrial disease therapy. 
Cell. 2026 Mar 11:S0092-8674(26)00173-X.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.02.008

 

Kuzikov M, Kalman A, Karki R, Reinshagen J, Huchting J, Qian K, Axelsson H, Tampere M, Östling P, Seashore-Ludlow B, Gadiya Y, Gribbon P, Zaliani A. 
Experimental and machine learning-based exploration of repurposed drugs reveals chemical features underlying phospholipidosis. 
Patterns. 2026 Feb 6; 101453.
doi: 10.1016/j.patter.2025.101453

 

Castillo-Aguilera OO, Depreux P, Halby L, Bailly C, Domínguez-Ramírez L, Gul S, Arimondo PB, Goossens L. 
Design, synthesis and evaluation of pyrimidinobenzylamide and pyrimidinothiophenamide derivatives as inhibitors of DOT1L and related epigenetic targets DNMT3a, PRMT4 and other HMTs. 
RSC Med Chem. 2025 Jan 30;16(5):2159-2173.
doi: 10.1039/d4md00899e

 

Weng J, Ju F, Lyu Z, Fan N, Smit DJ, Xu W, Wu X, Becker P, Xu Y, Schweiger MR, Hillmer AM, Harwig R, Gul S, Link A, Meder L, Fang N, Dong Q, Bruns CJ, Ren N, Zhao Y. 
Single-cell insights into tumor microenvironment heterogeneity and plasticity: transforming precision therapy in gastrointestinal cancers. 
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Nov 28;44(1):314.
doi: 10.1186/s13046-025-03567-5

 

Zhang S, Gu M, Yin H, Pan S, Xie H, Chen W, Gul S, Zhao Y, Wang Z, Zheng W, You Y, You B. 
IGF2BP1-HAX-1 positive feedback loop-mediated HAX-1 overexpression blocks autophagic flux and promotes chemoresistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. 
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2025 Mar 7;82(1):105.
doi: 10.1007/s00018-025-05604-0