PharmGWAS: a GWAS-based knowledgebase for drug repurposing

Leveraging genetics insights to promote drug repurposing has become a promising and active strategy in pharmacology. Indeed, among the 50 drugs approved by FDA in 2021, two-thirds have genetically supported evidence. In this regard, the increasing amount of widely available genome-wide association studies (GWAS) datasets have provided substantial opportunities for drug repurposing based on genetics discoveries. Here, we developed PharmGWAS, a comprehensive knowledgebase designed to identify candidate drugs through the integration of GWAS data. PharmGWAS focuses on novel connections between diseases and small-molecule compounds derived using a reverse relationship between the genetically-regulated expression signature and the drug-induced signature. Specifically, we collected and processed 1929 GWAS datasets across a diverse spectrum of diseases and 724 485 perturbation signatures pertaining to a substantial 33609 molecular compounds. To obtain reliable and robust predictions for the reverse connections, we implemented six distinct connectivity methods. In the current version, PharmGWAS deposits a total of 740 227 genetically-informed disease-drug pairs derived from drug-perturbation signatures, presenting a valuable and comprehensive catalog. Further equipped with its user-friendly web design, PharmGWAS is expected to greatly aid the discovery of novel drugs, the exploration of drug combination therapies and the identification of drug resistance or side effects. PharmGWAS is available at https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/pharmgwas.