preclinical trials

Rare diseases are an important public-health issue and a challenge for the medical community. Most rare diseases are genetic disorders, which are often severely disabling, substantially affect life expectancy, and impair physical and mental abilities. Currently, there are about 7,000 identified rare diseases, together affecting 10% of the population. However, fewer than 6% of all rare diseases have an approved treatment option, highlighting their tremendous unmet needs in drug development. The process of repurposing drugs for new indications, compared with the development of novel orphan drugs, is a time-saving and cost-efficient method resulting in higher success rates, which can therefore drastically reduce the risk of drug development for rare diseases.

MCE carefully collects a unique of 1,898 compounds studied in preclinical, clinical trials or approved used in rare diseases treatment. MCE rare diseases drug library is a useful tool for the research of rare diseases. All compounds can provide corresponding indications for rare diseases.

From target identification to clinical research, traditional drug discovery and development is a time-consuming and costly process, which also bears high risk. Compared with traditional drug discovery, drug repositioning or repurposing, also known as old drugs for new uses can greatly shorten the development cycle and reduce development cost, which has become a new trend of drug development. After undergoing clinical trials, approved drugs have identified bioactivities, good pharmacokinetic characteristics and safety, which can greatly improve the success rate of drug discovery. A number of successes have been achieved, such as metformin for type 2 diabetes and thalidomide for leprosy and multiple myeloma, etc.

MCE provides a unique collection of 1,536 China NMPA (National Medical Products Administration) approved compounds, which have undergone extensive preclinical and clinical studies and have well-characterized bioactivities, safety and bioavailability properties. MCE NMPA-Approved Drug Library is a good tool for drug repurposing which could dramatically accelerate drug development.

Amino acids are indispensable building blocks for life activities and are widely involved in key biological processes such as cell signal transduction, energy metabolism, gene expression regulation, and neurotransmitter synthesis. As components of proteins, 20 kinds of amino acids make up over one million kinds of proteins in the human body. These amino acids can be classified into nine types of "essential amino acids" that the human body cannot synthesize on its own and must obtain from food, as well as eleven types of "non-essential amino acids" that the human body can synthesize on its own.

MCE offers 18 kinds of amino acids provided which can be applied in research fields such as the study of amino acid metabolic processes, metabolite identification, food/cosmetic ingredient research, and the development of nutritional supplements.

The TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle)—is also known as the Krebs cycle or the citric acid cycle (CAC). The TCA cycle is a series of chemical reactions that release stored energy through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA in carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

For decades, the TCA cycle has been considered as the central pathway for cell oxidative phosphorylation to produce energy and biosynthesis. Research shows that TCA cycle is associated with many diseases, especially cancer. In colon carcinoma, liver cancer and other cancers, there are mutations that lead to the imbalance of TCA cycle metabolites, indicating that TCA cycle may be related to the occurrence of cancer. Understanding the role and molecular mechanism of TCA cycle in inhibiting or promoting cancer progression will promote the development of new metabolite-based cancer treatment methods in the future.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 25 key intermediates of the TCA cycle, which can be utilized for TCA-related research and metabolomics identification studies.

In the progression of various diseases, metabolic reprogramming has emerged as a key hallmark. Lactate, as an important metabolic signaling molecule, is widely involved in tumorigenesis, immune regulation, and inflammatory responses. Particularly within the tumor microenvironment, the abnormal accumulation of lactate not only affects cellular energy metabolism but also promotes disease progression by modulating immune cell functions and mediating protein lactylation, thereby participating in epigenetic regulation and signaling networks. Therefore, systematic investigation of lactate metabolic pathways and their associated metabolites is of great significance for understanding disease mechanisms and developing novel therapeutic strategies.

The MCE lactic acid metabolite compound library contains 61 compounds and is constructed around key metabolic pathways involving lactate production, transport, and utilization. This library systematically includes core intermediates from glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and the lactate cycle. Focusing on disease-associated metabolic reprogramming, it is suitable for research in oncology, inflammation, and metabolic disorders. The library can be used to elucidate the roles of lactate in tumor microenvironment regulation, immune evasion, and epigenetic modifications (such as protein lactylation). In addition, it provides high-quality small-molecule resources for drug screening, facilitating the discovery of potential modulators targeting key enzymes (such as LDH) or transporters (such as MCTs) involved in lactate metabolism.

Protein lactylation, an emerging post-translational modification identified in recent years, plays a critical role in linking cellular metabolic reprogramming, epigenetic regulation, and signaling networks. Based on a systematic framework encompassing lactate metabolism, lactylation, and downstream signaling pathways, this compound library comprehensively targets multiple regulatory layers, including histone modification enzymes (such as p300 and HDACs), key glycolytic enzymes (such as PKM2, LDHA, and GAPDH), transcriptional regulators (such as STAT3, HMGB1, and p53), as well as central signaling pathway nodes including HIF-1α, NF-κB, and PI3K-AKT-mTOR. This integrated design enables a comprehensive representation of the regulatory roles of lactylation across the “metabolism–epigenetics–signaling” axis.

MCE has assembled a collection of 6,092 known bioactive compounds and potential functional molecules, making this library suitable for a wide range of applications, including high-throughput drug screening, inhibitor identification, and mechanistic studies. It can be used to systematically evaluate the functional roles of lactylation in biological processes such as tumor metabolism, immune regulation, and inflammatory responses, and to efficiently identify small-molecule candidates with regulatory potential, thereby facilitating the development of innovative therapeutics targeting the interplay between metabolism and epigenetic regulation.

With the progress of modern cancer therapy, the life of cancer patients has been extended. However, after initial treatment and recovery, the development of secondary tumors often leads to cancer recurrence. Cancer stem cells are a small number of cells that tumor growth and reproduction depend on.

Cancer stem cells have strong self-renewal ability, which is the direct cause of tumor occurrence. In addition, cancer stem cells also have the ability to differentiate into different cell types, playing a crucial role in tumor metastasis and development. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy induced DNA damage and apoptosis are common cancer treatments. However, cancer stem cells can effectively protect cancer cells from apoptosis by activating DNA repair ability. Cancer stem cells are regarded as the key "seed" of tumor occurrence, development, metastasis and recurrence. Since its first discovery in leukemia in 1994, cancer stem cells have been considered a promising therapeutic target for cancer treatment.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 3,524 compounds targeting key proteins in cancer stem cells. MCE Cancer Stem Cells Compound Library is a useful tool for cancer stem cells related research and anti-cancer drug development.

Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs), a new class of treatment for cancer, are composed with a monoclonal antibody, a linker and a cytotoxic agent also referred to as a payload. To date, several ADCs have received market approval and more than 60 ADCs are currently in clinical trials. ADCs are one of the fastest growing classes of oncology drugs worldwide.

The payload or cytotoxic agent is the most important unit in the ADC. ADC has the capability to kill cancer cell depending on the potency of the payload. MCE provides 118 highly potent cytotoxins that contain auristatin derivatives, maytansinoids, calicheamicin, duocarmycin, pyrrolobenzodiazepines (PBDs), etc.

Peptides, composed of amino acids, serve as crucial building blocks for proteins and have gained significant attention in drug development over the past decade. The advancements in production, modification, and analytical technologies have led to a surge in the potential applications of peptides in medicine. Peptides offer a number of advantages over small molecule drugs, including: greater target specificity and efficacy, more predictable metabolic profiles, easier delivery to where they are needed in the body, and fewer side effects. Peptides are increasingly appearing in all branches of medicine as components of innovative drugs, imaging agents, diagnostic agents, and other complex drugs such as peptide-drug conjugates. To date, more than 80 peptide drugs have been approved to treat a variety of diseases, including microbial infections, obesity, anti-diabetes, and cancer, as well as to develop cell targeting platforms and improve cell penetration properties.

MCE designs a unique collection of 853 peptide compounds. HY-L105S is a peptide compound library that can be provided with solution form based on HY-L105, and can be applied to peptides-based drug development.

In modern medicinal chemistry and chemical biology research, alkyne (-C≡C-) structures play an important role in click chemistry, bioorthogonal labeling, and the construction of functional molecules due to their unique linear geometry and high reactivity. In particular, driven by the development of copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) and copper-free click reactions (SPAAC), terminal alkyne groups have become important “chemical handles” for building complex biomolecular systems.

The MCE Alkyne Compound Library contains 432 compounds designed for the construction of click chemistry reaction systems and the development of diverse functional molecules. In drug discovery, these structures serve as key reactive sites that can efficiently undergo click reactions with azide groups, enabling modular assembly of PROTAC molecules, construction of ADC linkers, and rapid synthesis of bioorthogonal labeling probes. In addition, alkyne groups exhibit high stability, mild reaction conditions, and excellent biocompatibility, allowing them to maintain reactivity in complex biological environments. This contributes to improved efficiency and controllability in drug development, making them indispensable chemical building blocks in modern drug design and functional molecular engineering.

The anti-cancer drug library meticulously collects all drugs approved by FDA and other major national drug regulatory authorities for cancer treatment. These drugs cover a variety of cancer types, including but not limited to lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, leukemia, and other common cancers. The library includes a wide range of drugs, from classic chemotherapeutic agents to cutting-edge targeted therapies and immunotherapies. It contains various types of drug compounds with different mechanisms of action. There are cytotoxic drugs that directly kill cancer cells, as well as drugs that work by modulating the tumor microenvironment, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, and activating the immune system. This diversity provides researchers with a broad range of perspectives and options for intervention strategies.

This library can be used for basic research on cancer treatment, exploring new targets and new mechanisms of drug action; Conducting drug reuse research to look for potential therapeutic effects of existing drugs on other cancer types or diseases; Or conducting research into combination drugs to optimize cancer treatment.

MCE has collected 268 small-molecule compounds with cancer indications, which are good tools for drug repurposing.

At the forefront of innovative drug discovery, every medicinal chemist faces the challenge of rapidly identifying high-quality hit compounds from vast repositories of chemical resources.

The MCE Natural Product Diversity Scaffold Library is the result of a streamlined optimization process built upon our existing natural product collection. Adhering to the rigorous selection principle of "retaining only one representative compound per BMS scaffold", we have concentrated the diversity of thousands of compounds into a high-value, low-redundancy core set containing 2,262 compounds. All compounds are derived from natural sources, inheriting their inherent advantages of structural complexity and drug-likeness. By eliminating redundancy, the library size is significantly reduced without any compromise to chemical diversity. This approach effectively lowers the cost and time required for primary screening while simplifying downstream data analysis and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies.

Flavor is an expression of smell and taste that is achieved through a variety of chemical processes triggered by molecules. Food flavor is an important attribute of food quality and in some cases determines consumers' food preferences. In addition to playing a key role in taste and smell, flavor molecules can also be involved in regulating metabolism and have an impact on health. In daily life, flavor molecules have absolute application value in food and spices. In scientific research, the study of flavor molecules is helpful to reveal the relationship between food intake and taste perception. Research on the combination behavior of flavor and food components can explore the retention, release and perception of flavor molecules. Most importantly, while exploring multi-sensory flavor perception, the food industry can fully mobilize the enthusiasm of researching new strategies for delicious and healthy food design.

Based on the FlavorDB database, collects and organizes 443 flavor molecules, which can be used in taste perception and other related studies.

Natural product have great diversity and structural complexity of scaffolds. And the number of their drugs represents a large number of sources of new pharmacological entities, so natural products are of great significance in drug discovery. The Dictionary of Natural Products (DNP) shows that natural products mainly come from plants, animals and microorganisms, and animal sources are the second important source of natural products. Animal derived natural products exist to varying degrees in almost all forms of animals, generally secondary metabolite extracted from organisms.

MCE provides a unique collection of 990 animal-sourced natural products. MCE Animal-Sourced Natural Product Library is a useful tool for drug discovery that can be used for high throughput screening (HTS) and high content screening (HCS).

Copper is an important co-factor of all biological enzymes, but if the concentration exceeds the threshold of maintaining the homeostasis mechanism, copper will lead to cytotoxicity. This death mechanism has been named "Cuproptosis".

The mechanism of cuproptosis distinct from all other known mechanisms of regulated cell death, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, and ferroptosis.

Copper combine with the lipoylated components of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), leading to lipoylated protein aggregation and subsequent loss of iron-sulfur cluster proteins, ultimately resulting in protein toxicity stress and cell death. Studies have shown that the necessary factors for cuproptosis include the presence of glutathione, mitochondrial metabolism of galactose and pyruvate, and glutamine metabolism.

Targeted regulation of cuproptosis is a potential choice to treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and other diseases. For example, up-regulation of LIPT1 may inhibit the occurrence and development of tumors by destroying TCA in mitochondria and then inducing cuproptosis.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 447 cuproptosis-related compounds, all of which act on the targets or signaling pathways related to cuproptosis and may have in inhibitory or activated effect on cuproptosis. MCE Cuproptosis Library is a useful tool for drug research related to cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and other diseases.

Carbohydrate metabolism serves as a central hub for energy supply and biosynthesis in living organisms and plays a critical role in the onset and progression of various diseases. In recent years, studies have shown that tumor cells reprogram their energy metabolism through aerobic glycolysis (the Warburg effect) to support rapid proliferation. Immune cells also rely on specific carbohydrate metabolic pathways to regulate their activation and differentiation states, while disorders such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome arise directly from dysregulation of carbohydrate metabolism. In addition, enzymes and key metabolic nodes involved in carbohydrate metabolism have become important targets for drug discovery, and therapeutic strategies targeting glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and energy metabolism are continuously advancing the treatment of cancer and metabolic diseases. Therefore, systematic analysis of carbohydrate metabolic networks and their associated metabolites is of great significance for elucidating disease mechanisms and developing novel therapeutic approaches.

The MCE Carbohydrate Metabolism Metabolite Library is constructed based on classical carbohydrate metabolic pathways and contains 75 metabolites. It systematically integrates key metabolic networks, including glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, monosaccharide metabolism, and sugar acid interconversions. The library comprehensively covers core metabolic nodes from glucose uptake and utilization to energy production and biosynthesis, while also incorporating important upstream and downstream intermediates. It enables accurate representation of intracellular metabolic flux dynamics and is well suited for applications such as metabolic flux analysis, target validation, and mechanistic studies. Furthermore, it provides robust support for multi-omics integration and the development of precision intervention strategies.