An international consortium of researchers led by our Centre's Dr. Artem Cherkasov and by Dr. François Jean, Associate Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Science, Department of Microbiology and Immunology is receiving $2.1 million from CIHR for their project "Computer-aided discovery of synergistic drug combinations with Remdevisir for COVID-19 through mechanism-based drug repurposing and combinatorial organoid screening", which will use artificial intelligence to search for SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors among known drugs. They will work to identify antiviral drugs that can work synergistically with antiviral therapy Remdesivir to boost its effectiveness and block SARS-CoV-2, similar to the drug “cocktails” used in treating HIV and hepatitis C infections. This research will be performed at UBC FINDER, one of the largest university-based containment level 3 facilities in the world, founded by Dr. Jean.
Drs. Cherkasov and Jean's projects is one of 19 COVID-19 projects at UBC to receive federal funding. Read UBC's press release with the description of all 19 funded programs is here.
