SRI International has been awarded $4.3 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create ProSyn, an agile, rapidly deployable extension of SynFini, SRI’s fully automated synthetic chemistry system. SRI will collaborate with Rutgers University’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems (C-SOPS) to create and test ProSyn as a novel tool for the production of therapeutic small molecules needed for rapid response to biological threats and pandemics, such as COVID-19.

SRI’s SynFini platform is a fully automated synthetic chemistry system that designs and synthesizes chemical molecules. ProSyn will rapidly translate processes developed on SynFini to desired production levels, providing “just-in-time” and scalable manufacturing capacity. The Rutgers team led by Dr Fernando J. Muzzio and Dr Ravendra Singh will apply their expertise in process modelling to streamline the step from the laboratory to manufacturing-scale production.

SRI previously received funding under DARPA’s Make-It program that supported the development and evaluation of SynFini. Make-It was created to support new technologies that innovate molecular synthesis through automation, as a means to improve reproducibility and transferability of synthetic methods.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted limitations in the production and delivery of the treatments necessary to respond to a worldwide public-health crisis. Predicting and stockpiling appropriate therapies prior to the outbreak of a novel virus is nearly impossible. As an extension of the SynFini system, ProSyn could reduce the need to stockpile antivirals and common intensive care-unit drugs and provide a more rapid response to emergency health situations, including new diseases.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become overwhelmingly clear that there is a desperate need for technologies that can quickly discover therapeutics against new infectious diseases, and importantly, rapidly manufacture them at scale to make them broadly available,” said Nathan Collins, Ph.D., chief strategy officer of SRI’s Biosciences Division and the principal investigator for the ProSyn project. “With the addition of ProSyn, the SynFini suite may be able to address both needs. We are grateful to DARPA for recognizing this and subsequently supporting the ProSyn project, which could enable more effective response to pandemics such as COVID-19 and other biological threats.”