New Lab

Two chemists working in the Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab at the IBRI

Scientific Director of Molecular Innovation Timothy Richardson, PhD, working in the Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab

The Dr. August M. Watanabe Drug Discovery Laboratory launched

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) has leveraged more than 35,000 square feet of its biology lab space since the new headquarters opened in September 2020. In 2022, the IBRI added the 5,000-square-foot Dr. August M. Watanabe Drug Discovery Laboratory that expands the organization’s chemistry capabilities for molecular design and synthesis in support of its strategy to accelerate research in pursuit of novel therapeutics.

Over the past two years, the IBRI has invested in new capabilities to enable a broader platform in translational research that will connect basic disease science to new therapeutic hypotheses.

IBRI researchers working with the Bruker HD Fourier 80 MHz NMR spectrometer.

Enhanced molecular innovation

The Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab significantly enhances the Institute’s molecular innovation area by expanding the types of applied research IBRI scientists can perform. This will, in turn, increase the variety of research funding IBRI scientists can qualify and apply for through federal grants and sponsored research. The capabilities offered by the new Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab also provide a path to valuable intellectual property that can become the foundation of technology licenses and new company formation.

Collectively, this will drive the growth of the IBRI and create new opportunities internally or with collaborators that otherwise would not be possible.

Colorful pie blocks in the Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab.

Growing the biomedical community

Additionally, the Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab addresses a key deficit in the local biomedical community by providing innovators and early start-ups access to lab space and technology that supports drug discovery.

“One of our main objectives is to grow the biomedical community by being a catalyst for innovation,” said Mary Mader, vice president of molecular innovation at the IBRI. “The new Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab will help us accelerate drug discovery, enhance our partnerships and create new opportunities.”

Dedicated to the life sciences

In 2023, the IBRI will officially dedicate its new drug discovery laboratory and conference center in honor of the late Dr. August M. Watanabe, who served as a champion of the life sciences through his work as a physician-scientist, chair of the Department of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, president of Lilly Research Laboratories and biotech entrepreneur.

Drug Discovery

The Watanabe Drug Discovery Lab features 13 ducted fume hoods dedicated to molecule synthesis. An additional 16 filtered fume hoods house chemistry equipment. The lab also incorporates a full chromatography suite, mass spectrometer, and a benchtop NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), necessary for purification and characterization of compounds in advance of biological testing.

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