Qubigen Advances in the TBXT Challenge with Promising Early Compounds and Second-Round AI Optimization Underway
- David Brooks
- Jul 8
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 10
Qubigen is excited to share progress in its participation in the TBXT Challenge, an ambitious global initiative to discover inhibitors of the transcription factor brachyury (TBXT), a historically “undruggable” cancer target.
As part of this initiative, Qubigen submitted its first set of 15 compounds, obtained using its proprietary AI drug design and virtual screening platform. These compounds were selected based on their predicted binding potential to key areas within TBXT’s structure.
Following compound shipment and testing by the Chordoma Foundation, early results have provided valuable experimental insights into one of TBXT’s potential binding pockets. Early hits from the TBXT binding assays showed useful hints at a possible scaffold for this 'undruggable' target, with refinement and a new shipment of AI-designed molecules in progress. For a transcription factor once deemed beyond the reach of conventional small molecule design, this is an encouraging sign.
We are now leveraging these new data to refine and prioritize compounds using our AI pipeline, optimizing for predicted binding, physicochemical properties, and drug-like properties. A second round of AI-designed molecules is already in development and will be synthesized and submitted for follow-up testing in the coming weeks.
The TBXT Challenge, created by the Chordoma Foundation, is one of the first coordinated global efforts to target a transcription factor through structure-enabled design and open science. Brachyury is a driver of the rare cancer chordoma and has also been implicated in other tumor types. The challenge aims to accelerate discovery through contributions from industry and academic teams around the world, supported by a unique combination of protein structures, screening tools, and a collaborative data-sharing framework.
We look forward to continuing our contributions to the TBXT Challenge and to sharing further updates as our second-round compounds progress through screening.
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