Researchers at the University of Manchester and the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design used the RFD4-Proteina model to design enzymes for a reaction involved in synthesizing lenacapavir, an HIV prevention medicine, the University of Manchester reported on October 22.
Of 67 designs tested in the lab, four showed clear activity. The best converted 79 percent of the starting chemical into the desired product in that experiment, according to the university's research summary.
The university describes the work as a proof of concept and links to a preprint. The findings have not yet passed peer review.
The experiment does not show that the approach is ready for medicine production or that it will change the cost or availability of lenacapavir. Further research is needed to test whether the design method can be useful beyond this laboratory reaction.
