Centre for Medicines Discovery
NDM Research Building, location of the CMD | |
| Parent institution | University of Oxford |
|---|---|
| Established | 2020 |
| Director | Paul Brennan |
| Faculty | 13[1] |
| Staff | 142 |
| Formerly called | Structural Genomics Consortium Oxford |
| Address | NDM Research Building (NDMRB), Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK |
| Location | , |
| Website | www.cmd.ox.ac.uk |
The Centre for Medicines Discovery (CMD) is an academic department focused on translational research in the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. It is located at the Old Road Campus in Headington, Oxford, England, United Kingdom.
History
The CMD was established in 2020 with teams from Oxford's Target Discovery Institute and Structural Genomics Consortium to focus on translational research.[2][3] The Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK)-funded Oxford Drug Discovery Institute has been embededded within the CMD since 2015 to work on neuroscience targets.[4] As of 2026, the head of the department is Prof. Paul Brennan, who took over from Professor Chas Boutra in 2023.[5]
Research
The CMD has worked on chemical probe development and target enablement through public-private consortia such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative and the Structural Genomics Consortium[6][7][8] and foundations such as ARUK's Dementia Research Institute.[9]
As of 2026, the CMD's focus areas are Neuroscience, Anti-infectives, Rare Disease, and Oncology.[3] and their work includes:
- Testing the repurposing of existing cancer drugs for glioblastoma.[10]
- Direct collaborations with pharma for discovery and develop of new therapeutics to oncology and central nervous system (CNS) diseases, including Parkinson's disease.[11][12]
- Leading the COVID Moonshot project to crowdsource antivirals to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.[13]
- Working with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Gates Foundation, and Wellcome Trust for new mechanisms to combat antimicrobial resistance.[14]
- Collaborating with David Baker, Diamond Light Source, and other Oxford teams for the OpenBind consortium to support Artificial Intelligence in drug discovery.[15]
- Partnering with King Abdulaziz University for drug discovery targeting rare, cardiac, and metabolic diseases.[16]
References
- ^ "People". Centre for Medicines Discovery. University of Oxford. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ "Introduction to the Centre for Medicines Discovery: Implementing Drug Discovery in Medical Sciences at Oxford". OxTalks. Oxford University. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ a b "About Us". Centre for Medicines Discovery. University of Oxford. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ Hopkins, Michael M.; Mestre-Ferrandiz, Jorge; Crane, Phillipa; O'Neill, Michael (January 2025). "Academic Drug Discovery Units in the UK: Progress and challenges". Drug Discovery Today. 30 (1) 104281. doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2024.104281.
- ^ "Prof Paul Brennan appointed as Director of CMD". University of Oxford. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ Tredup, Claudia; Ackloo, Suzanne; Beck, Hartmut; Brown, Peter J.; Bullock, Alex N.; Ciulli, Alessio; Dikic, Ivan; Edfeldt, Kristina; Edwards, Aled M.; Elkins, Jonathan M.; Farin, Henner F.; Fon, Edward A.; Gstaiger, Matthias; Günther, Judith; Gustavsson, Anna-Lena; Häberle, Sandra; Isigkeit, Laura; Huber, Kilian V. M.; Kotschy, Andras; Krämer, Oliver; Leach, Andrew R.; Marsden, Brian D.; Matsui, Hisanori; Merk, Daniel; Montel, Florian; Mulder, Monique P. C.; Müller, Susanne; Owen, Dafydd R.; Proschak, Ewgenij; Röhm, Sandra; Stolz, Alexandra; Sundström, Michael; von Delft, Frank; Willson, Timothy M.; Arrowsmith, Cheryl H.; Knapp, Stefan (2025). "Toward target 2035: EUbOPEN - a public–private partnership to enable & unlock biology in the open". RSC Medicinal Chemistry. 16 (2): 457–464. doi:10.1039/D4MD00735B. hdl:1887/4210640.
- ^ Sauer, David (24 March 2025). "Collaborating to study the transport and inhibition of the immunoregulatory sphingosine-1-phosphate exporter SPNS2". Vol. Behind the Paper. SpringerNature. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ SGC (25 July 2024). "A New Chemical Probe Sheds Light on CDKL2". SGC. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ "Structural Genomics Consortium & Centre for Medicine Discovery - UK DRI Partners & Platforms Seminar". YouTube. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ Da Costa, Katharine (24 March 2025). "'I'm living with the worst type of brain tumour'". BBC. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ^ MacDonald, Anna (20 January 2025). "Collaboration Aims To Advance E2-Based Targeted Protein Degradation". Technology Networks. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ^ Poinsatte, Katherine (10 October 2024). "BPGbio, University of Oxford team up on treatments for Parkinson's". Parkinson's News Today. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ "COVID Moonshot Consortium Announces Crowd-Sourced Small Molecule Discovery". Global Biodefense. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ^ "Oxford researchers join Novo, Gates, and Wellcome to tackle antimicrobial resistance". University of Oxford. 22 January 2026. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ "New consortium to make UK a world leader in AI drug discovery". University of Oxford. 10 June 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
- ^ "New partnership with King Abdulaziz University aims to revolutionise drug discovery using artificial intelligence". Retrieved 9 October 2025.