UCL paper sets out strategic framework to accelerate drug repurposing

While drug repurposing offers a faster, often more cost-effective route to delivering new treatments to patients, it faces significant hurdles. These include limited commercial incentives, regulatory complexities, and, critically, the imperative for comprehensive scientific validation.

A new paper published in Drug Discovery Today by a committee with a diverse spectrum of scientific and clinical expertise, coupled with robust experience in business development, commercialisation, innovation, and project management, outlines a strategic framework to overcome these challenges and increase the probability of success in identifying secondary indications and new uses for existing medicines.

This collaborative effort proposes a structured roadmap, guiding researchers through the entire process from initial hypothesis generation to successful regulatory approval, emphasising the importance of integrated evidence generation at every stage and avoiding the omission of key steps.

Central to facilitating this ambitious endeavour is the UCL Therapeutic Innovation Networks - Repurposing (Repurposing TIN). This collaborative platform brings together experts to support and advance repurposing projects - an area notoriously challenging. The Repurposing TIN provides guidance and resources across disciplines, including computational biology, translational and clinical pharmacology, pharmaceutical technology, study feasibility and protocol design, fostering an all-encompassing approach to the development of candidate molecules.

“Drug repurposing is a powerful strategy that requires more than scientific insight; it also demands coordinated efforts across sectors such as formulation development and patient advocacy groups, a well-defined evidence generation plan supporting the development pathway for the proposed indication, and timely interaction with regulatory bodies,” said Professor Oscar Della Pasqua (Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, UCL), Chair of the Repurposing TIN.

“This article highlights how the UCL Repurposing TIN is uniquely positioned to support researchers and provide practical guidance to the wider community, increasing the likelihood of translating promising ideas into tangible patient outcomes.”

Dr Asha Recino, Research Networks and Partnerships Manager at UCL Translational Research Office (TRO), added: “The Repurposing TIN is a proven enabler, fostering deep collaboration and providing the necessary framework to help ideas grow into real-world therapeutics. Our goal is to make these challenging projects more successful.”

The paper also highlights successful examples of repurposing, from widely recognised cases like semaglutide for obesity to lesser-known but equally impactful ones such as low-dose colchicine to prevent cardiovascular events. It explicitly calls for and actively welcomes greater collaboration with industry partners, funders, and patient groups to accelerate progress and maximise impact. The aim with this publication is to increase the visibility of the Repurposing TIN and facilitate new partnership opportunities with small and medium enterprises and charitable organisations in this vital space.
 

Related: 

• Read the full paper in Drug Discovery Today 
• UCL Therapeutic Innovation Networks - Repurposing (Repurposing TIN)
• Professor Oscar Della Pasqua’s academic profile 
• Dr Asha Recino’s profile 

Interested to stay informed of upcoming news, events and funding calls?

• Subscribe to our newsletter and you would automatically become a member of UCL TINs (Therapeutic Innovation Networks) and be the first to receive our event invitations

• Follow us on social media (LinkedIn, Bluesky, X) and stay tuned to our news and updates.