Schrödinger, whose physics-based software platform is transforming the way therapeutics and materials are discovered, has been awarded a two-year, $4.9M grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a global women’s health initiative.
The grant is part of a Gates Foundation initiative aimed at accelerating emerging opportunities to advance the field of contraceptive drug discovery. The emphasis of this initiative is to develop safe and effective, reversible, non-hormonal contraceptive agents with an improved overall tolerability and side effect profile compared to conventional (hormonal) methods. The goal is to empower women around the globe to take charge of their own health, enabling them to make informed decisions about family planning and have better access to contraceptive options that meet their needs.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this important drug discovery initiative that aims to provide an opportunity to remove barriers for women seeking contraceptive care around the globe,” said Karen Akinsanya, Ph.D., executive vice president, chief biomedical scientist and head of discovery research and development at Schrödinger. “This project is an example of Schrödinger’s commitment to global health as part of our broader environmental, societal and corporate social responsibility goals to support diversity, inclusiveness and improving opportunities for all.”
Schrödinger will leverage its computationally driven structure-based drug discovery platform to identify novel, high-affinity, selective small molecule leads for a specific ovarian protein during this initial project.
