Empowering research in chemical biology and early drug discovery – an update from the European research infrastructure EU-OPENSCREEN

EU-OPENSCREEN is the European research infrastructure consortium for chemical biology and early drug discovery. It provides open access to high-throughput screening, chemoproteomics and spatial MS-based omics platforms and medicinal chemistry groups to support the discovery of new biologically active small molecules that act as starting points for the development of new chemical tool compounds and drugs. Since its inauguration in 2018, the research infrastructure evolved from a blueprint to a fully operational platform. As new trends and technologies have an important impact on modern drug discovery, EU-OPENSCREEN continuously expands and refines its portfolio of technologies and expertise. In this perspective, the key achievements of the past six years and the planned activities over the next years are described. We illustrate how scientists can benefit from EU-OPENSCREEN through gaining access to technology platforms and expertise to unlock the extraordinary potential of their research projects and translate them into novel, impactful and innovative applications.