MEDINA is a Research Organization established in the Health Sciences Technology Park, Granada (Spain) as a private-public partnership between the Government of Andalucía (Spain), the University of Granada and Merck Sharp and Dohme de España S.A.
MEDINA is an independent and non profit entity with innovative research collaborations and contracts with academic and industrial partners worldwide. We are engaged in the discovery of novel drug candidates and new biomarkers with Pharma and Biotech companies, as well as of new products for use in crop protection for the Agrofood industry, Consumer products and new enzymes for industrial processes.
MEDINA owns one of the largest Collections of Microbial Strains and the most chemically diverse Natural Products Libraries with a longstanding, successful track record in delivering novel drug candidates for development as pharmaceuticals.
Our team has unique expertise in natural products microbiology, chemistry, high throughput screening, as well as a strong analytical chemistry platform for molecular structure elucidation.
We are currently active in drug and biomarker discovery programs in infectious diseases (including Gram negatives pathogens, tuberculosis and parasitic diseases), cancer, CNS, and rare diseases.
Leveraging our unique strengths in high precision-high throughput analytics and bioanalytics we are collaborating with clinical investigators in translational research programs for biomarker discovery and metabolomic profiling of patient samples.
Our mission is the discovery of biologically active molecules, enzymes and drug candidates for unmet industrial and medical needs.
Natural Products have been pivotal in inspiring chemists and providing innovative chemistry. With our Microbial Natural Product collection at the head of our research, we are able to contribute significantly to the discovery of new drugs and industrial solutions.
Management
Olga Genilloud - Scientific Director
Diego Pozas - Business Manager
Francisca Vicente - Area Head Screening
Fernando Reyes – Area Head Chemistry
RESEARCH
MEDINA has an extensive experience in drug discovery developing high throughput screening (HTS) programs with high quality collections of microbial natural product extracts and synthetic compounds in a large diversity of formats.MEDINA is currently developing collaborative research programs in all of the strategic areas through partnerships or whith internal or competitive funding.
RESEARCH IN NATURAL PRODUCTS
Microbiology
Our ongoing investigations of basic questions in functional microbial diversity and secondary metabolism are directed at improving the quality of our microbial and natural products collections while advancing the understanding of microbial natural products biosynthesis.
Significant research is centered in the following areas:
Detection and molecular assessment of microbial diversity
Characterisation and identification of microorganisms, especially those that produces secondary metabolites
Evolutionary histories of microorganisms and their relationship to secondary metabolism
Development of cultivation methods and fermentation media for secondary metabolite expression
Molecular basis of microbial antagonism and secondary metabolite expression
Detection and molecular assessment of secondary metabolite pathways in individual organisms and in the metagenome
Chemistry
Our investigations in Natural Products Chemistry are focused on the development of new strategies for the isolation of novel bioactive natural products from microorganisms and other sources. Some of the research areas covered by our group are the following:
Exploration of new methodology for the preparation of extract and fraction collections.
Design of new semi-automated strategies for the bioassay-guided purification of natural products from microbial extracts.
Implementation of new dereplication tools based on LC-HRMS, LC-SPE-NMR, and DOSY NMR.
Development of new strategies for the isolation and structural characterization of new natural products at the nanomole scale.
Re-exploration of the andalusian flora applying these new approaches aimed at the discovery of novel bioactive molecules.
THERAPEUTICS AREAS
Fundación MEDINA approaches to drug discovery are focused on the search for novel therapeutics in infectious and
parasitic diseases (including new agents against multiresistant nosocomial Gram negative bacteria, tuberculosis and
malaria), oncology, neurodegeneration and rare diseases.
SERVICES
Natural Products Collection
Microbial Collection
Microbial Genetic Banks
Natural Products Extracts
Microbiology and Fermentation
Natural Products Chemistry
Mass Spectrometry and NMR
High Throughput Screening
Preclinical Safety
Bioanalytics & Metabolomics of novel bioactive molecules.
Education & Training
MEDINA’s commitment and contribution to the education of the next generation of Scientists
We are participating actively in a number of education & training programs: