(v) The prioritization of research and funding allocation in the pharmaceutical industry and academic institutions also influences the pace of drug development. While TBK1 inhibitors hold promise for therapeutic intervention in various diseases, competing priorities and resource constraints may impact the rate of progress in this area. Despite these mitigating factors, a few key players that are involved in research related to TBK1 are shown in Figure and include well-known companies such as Merck, Novartis, Gilead Sciences and Bayer. Other key players include the PROTAC-focused biotechnology company Arvinas , the Drug Discovery CRO Domainex , Asuragen which appears to be centered around molecular diagnostics in oncology and other fields as well as the China-based drug development company Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences 70 . Examples of patents by these organizations mostly consist of exploring various scaffolds including pyrimidine-(WO2019079375 71 ; US8962609 ) and heteroarylbenzimidazole-based (WO2017207534 ) with the aim of developing small molecule inhibitors (WO2017106556 ). Other examples include development of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) against TBK1 by Arvinas (WO2016197114 ).