Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine threatens a supply of chemicals and compounds that drug researchers and developers use across the globe.
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Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine threatens a supply of chemicals and compounds that drug researchers and developers use across the globe.
Prior to the invasion, Ukraine’s medicinal chemistry industry was critical the world over. Companies like Enamine provided those all-important products to drug developers everywhere. As the Wall Street Journal noted, Ukraine’s significance in medicinal chemistry dates back to the days of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Journal said, “it revealed techniques and molecules unseen in the West.”
The now open markets allowed some former Soviet scientists to establish companies and begin marketing their collection of chemical compounds to western drug developers and universities. Enamine was one of those companies.
The importance of a company like Enamine cannot be understated. Even large pharmaceutical companies that have their own libraries used in drug development commonly rely on Enamine to supplement their supply. With its technology, Enamine has the ability to make approximately 22.7 billion potential new chemical combinations. Citing multiple researchers, the publication said that without a company like Enamine, “the universe of molecules available to test against new disease targets would be far narrower and would likely lead to missed opportunities in drug discovery.”
With the onslaught of Russian artillery, Enamine’s employees have scattered across the country and into neighboring nations seeking refuge. As BioSpace reported, the threat of invasion prompted many Enamine researchers to ship crucial compounds related to their work to secure locations outside Ukraine. However, the disruption of work is expected to have a ripple effect across the globe.
Those who are able to are attempting to resume their work, which includes the development of a low-cost, oral COVID-19 antiviral drug. Citing a Bloomberg report last week, BioSpace noted that Tetiana Matviyuk, the principal scientist in medicinal chemistry and computer drug design at Enamine, fled Ukraine to Poland with her family and is now hoping to resume her work on that antiviral drug.
However, many male Enamine employees have not left the country due to enacting extraordinary martial law that fully mobilized all males ages 18 to 60.
Earlier this month, Enamine founder Andrey Tolmachov issued an open letter to the global drug discovery community urging the scientific community to condemn Russia for its aggressive invasion. He noted that the company’s stock of compounds housed in Kyiv cannot be accessed due to the invasion. However, a stock that is stored in the United States and Latvia is still accessible.
“It is an extremely challenging time for us, but Ukraine will stand. And Enamine will stand as well,” Tolmachov wrote in his letter. He closed his letter with “Slava Ukraini,” which translates to “Glory to Ukraine.”
