Project Summary – Core B The Medicinal Chemistry Core (Core B) of the Antiviral Countermeasures Development Center (AC/DC) will be composed of the combined capacity of the Emory Institute for Drug Development (EIDD) and the research group of Professor Dennis Liotta. This Core will centralize all AC/DC chemistry operations including medicinal chemistry, scale-up synthesis, process development and preformulation profiling into a highly efficient team that will reduce redundant research around chemotypes that are of interest to multiple Projects. It will also interact closely with all AC/DC Projects and Cores to allow for an unprecedented level of synergy and integration throughout the Center. The AC/DC will have a compelling set of leads, early leads and validated hits in its pipeline at various stages of development and optimization at the onset of operations. These compounds present a wide array of chemotypes that will be pursued in parallel, including broadly active ribonucleoside leads, non- nucleoside viral polymerase inhibitor leads, and viral protease inhibitor hits. New validated hits emerging from Core F (HTS) will also be advanced through iterative SAR optimization to ensure an ongoing robust pipeline of drug candidates at various stages of development. Finally, Core B will develop scale-up processes and preformulation profiles to support the advancement of late leads throughout the AC/DC.