COVID-19 Drug-Screening and Resistance Hub (CRUSH)

CRUSH was founded in 2020 to address an acute gap in the landscape of antiviral development. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the high demand and limited provision of facilities and expertise to aid the development of therapeutics and devices targeting high-consequence viruses.

The CVR is one of a limited number of UK institutions with the necessary infrastructure and virology expertise to support such studies. We have developed models that can support SARS-CoV-2 research, but they must be handled in high containment facilities (known as biosafety level 3, BSL-3) and require specialised molecular virology expertise. This type of work can help screen and identify potential antiviral drugs that can ultimately be used to help patients.

CRUSH activities have initially focused on SARS-CoV-2, but we have now adapted our models to include other emerging viruses of concern, e.g. monkeypox. We want CRUSH to be a stable?and sustainable?resource for the UK’s research communities?to accelerate drug discovery for?any?known or novel?high consequence?virus requiring high containment facilities.

A strategic goal of CRUSH and partners is to establish a foundation for broader collaboration and innovation across the Life Sciences sector and to be prepared to rapidly respond to future viral outbreaks.