Idler Compounds: A Simple Protocol for Openly Sharing Fridge Contents for Cross-Screening

Area of Science:

• Drug discovery
• Chemical biology
• Open science

Background:

• Academic drug discovery labs accumulate large compound collections that are often underutilized.
• Cross-screening compound libraries against alternative targets offers potential for novel hit identification.
• Sharing and utilizing these academic compound collections is infrequent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a guide for establishing open compound libraries from underutilized academic small molecules.
• To demonstrate the screening of such a library against a panel of pathogens.
• To encourage the broader adoption of open science principles in academic drug discovery.

Main Methods:

• Identification and collection of "idler" compounds not actively pursued in research projects.
• Creation of a diverse subset from the collected idler compounds.
• Screening of the compound subset against a panel of pathogenic targets.
• Public dissemination of screening data.

Main Results:

• A diverse subset of the open compound library was successfully screened against pathogens.
• Screening data was made publicly available, enabling further research.
• The process demonstrated a viable method for repurposing underutilized academic compound collections.

Conclusions:

• Establishing open compound libraries from academic "idlers" maximizes resource utility.
• Publicly sharing screening data catalyzes novel research and insights.
• This approach promotes open science and efficient drug discovery.