A new platform to discover natural product molecules
Official title: A novel platform for nonribosomal peptide discovery
Funded at Chemia Biosciences, INC. · NIH-11360215 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new platform will help scientists find novel natural drug molecules by combining genome hints with advanced mass-spectrometry analysis.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 2 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Chemia Biosciences, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2025 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $767,806 |
| NIH project number | 5R44GM159545-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11360215 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Not applicable for this grant as described; progress is focused on computational discovery rather than patient enrollment.
✕Less likely to help
Patients would not directly participate in this basic discovery platform.
What this research studies
This grant aims to create NatDiscovery, a platform that links genome mining with computational metabolomics to uncover new natural product molecules. The project builds on existing tools to search tandem mass spectra for unknown compounds and to identify novel variants in natural product libraries. By integrating high-throughput data with smarter analysis, it seeks to reduce rediscovery of known molecules and accelerate discovery of potential antibiotics and other drugs. The work involves collaboration between academia and industry to translate computational discoveries into practical workflows. If successful, it could broaden the pipeline of new therapeutics from natural sources.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: It could speed up the discovery of new antibiotics and other drugs derived from natural products.
How similar studies have gone: Previous tools like Dereplicator and molDiscovery have shown promise in identifying known molecules; this project extends those ideas to discover novel natural products.
Where this research is happening
-
Chemia Biosciences, INC.
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Behsaz, Bahar — Chemia Biosciences, INC.
- Study coordinator: Behsaz, Bahar
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.