Our Capabilities
Our team has decades of experience across large pharma, academia, leading technology providers, SMEs, charities and start-ups.
Translational Imaging
Our portfolio of imaging platforms and infrastructure, coupled with our expertise, gives you access to tools to accelerate your drug development. We focus on non-invasive imaging modalities to study biodistribution, PK and PD, mechanism and efficacy of novel therapeutics. With several technologies to label drugs or cells within the animal, we can work with you to deliver the most appropriate preclinical imaging strategy.
Cellular Sciences
Modelling therapeutic response in disease relevant in vitro assays is the first step to understanding whether a therapeutic engages the appropriate pathways and modulates the relevant functional response.
We establish and apply disease relevant cell models with integrated analysis workflows for disease and therapeutic characterisation. Establishing the link between a candidate lead molecule and its target or its modulation of biological pathways in vitro. Projects involve:
- Cellular target engagement
- Mechanism of action analysis
- Functional and phenotypic assays
- Application of advanced technologies to understand cellular response
Biomarkers
We can identify novel biomarkers to track the impact of your proposed new lead molecule, or test known biomarkers to support the translation of your potential therapeutic. For example, biomarkers to enable patient stratification, demonstrate efficacy or monitor safety endpoints.
Key assay platforms include:
- Spatial biomarker analysis using molecular pathology
- Spatial transcriptomics within tissue sections
- Mass spectrometry imaging
- Bulk analysis of samples using transcriptomics and mass spectrometry
Informatics
We can integrate, analyse and interpret complex data to help you to make decisions about how to support the development of new therapeutics. We can apply our multidisciplinary expertise, novel methods, unique algorithms and exclusive datasets to help you with target identification, virtual screening, predictions of drug efficacy, and the analysis of the rich experimental data.
Our key strengths include:
- Multidisciplinary expertise in Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics and Bioimaging informatics
- Application of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing using state-of-the-art Deep Learning methods to extract value from unstructured data
- Data infrastructure support with expertise in data management, workflows, visualisation and software development
- Integration with the wet lab to support further validation of in silico predictions
Virtual R&D
We provide an independent service that helps projects mitigate risks, optimise time and resources, and strengthen drug discovery plans. Our experts have experience working in large pharma and biotech SMEs and work in a range of disease and therapy areas. Our project delivery spans programmes developing traditional small molecules, biological medicines such as oligonucleotide and antibody therapeutics, and nanoparticle delivery systems.
Our expertise covers drug discovery from target validation to candidate nomination and beyond. We partner with innovators to provide:
- Drug discovery and disease area advice, insight, critique, and review
- Development of detailed, actionable project plans and target product profiles
- Access to in-house capabilities from our discovery laboratory and informatics teams and through our CRO relationships
Syndicates
We have a bold ambition to overcome and unlock barriers to successful medicines discovery through the development of strategic disease-focused consortia. By bringing leading experts from academia, industry and the clinic together with charities and the patients they represent, we create sector intelligence and gain deep insights into areas of unmet need.
We build mission-oriented communities to overcome sector challenges and accelerate medicines discovery efforts to bring new treatments to patients, faster.
A Strategy for Success
Working in close collaboration with you, our team will define a bespoke project plan, using industry-leading insight and experience to address your project challenges and increase your chance of success.
We can provide guidance where you may need it, find the right partners to help you, fill gaps in your existing project plan and help manage your project delivery. It is what we do.
Lightening the Load
The advantage of partnering with others for some or all of your R&D is twofold: Firstly, you get to keep your internal team lean, agile, focused and cost-effective. Secondly, you gain access to specialist scientific experts and costly technologies in a flexible manner as you need them.
Whether you need to generate complex assay data, source samples or develop a novel biomarker as a potential companion diagnostic, we can offer seamless support.
Finding the Right Partners
The UK is rich with resources in medicines R&D, but the wealth of talent and technology available can feel overwhelming to those with limited time and resources to explore it. We will help you navigate this complex landscape, understand the skills and expertise that you require, and then connect with the people and organisations that can provide them.
Our network of partners spans both the private and public sectors, taking in CROs, universities, research institutes and the NHS. It is a network comprised of some of the sharpest minds that UK medicines discovery has to offer.
