Hi Andrea,
I reviewed the 250 selected compounds and I agree with you. I understand the fact that we are facing a pressing demand due to the urgent need of moving forward science in this area. Because of this, we should also focus our attention and resources on robust, novelty focused, designs even more. We might really have a chance to select, as a community, compounds which are highly diverse, designed by experts and that can really be a gamechanger. I think this is our chance as scientific community to have impact on fighting COVID-19. We cannot waste it.
I have the feeling that the majority of the selected compounds are more fragment-like than lead like. If active, it might be needed to invest consistent amount of resources to increase protease affinity and generate molecules with better PK properties at the same time. This is not light work. The chemical modifications that might be needed to consider to improve compounds properties might also lead to important changes in the synthetic routes.
I think we should move forward with audacity and scientific rigor to generate transformative compounds with a good chance to being fast tracked towards clinical trials.
I am very happy to provide input, what do you think of organizing a virtual round table?