The UK firms announced the collaboration today, explaining that the aim is to help industry and academia accelerate and reduce the cost of discovery and early phase drug development.
Christian Jones, Commercial Director, Custom Development and Manufacture – Europe, Johnson Matthey Fine Chemicals told us “Our idea is to provide a holistic offering to customers who have identified novel clinical targets and then seek effective means to discover candidate molecules, and then have them progressed through toxicology studies and into the clinic as rapidly as possible.”
Domainex provides hit-to-lead identification and assay development services using a combination of proprietary technology platforms. The firm claims its approach to finding leads is 30% faster than the industry average.
Johnson Matthey’s activities in the preclinical active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) development space are focused on solid form screening through its Pharmorphix platform, process development and production.
Both firms are based in Cambridge in the UK, which was another driver for the collaboration according to Jones.
“We believe that by having our facilities and activities closely located together, our two companies and our scientists can collaborate to provide rapid and effective solutions to innovative biotech, pharmaceutical and academic customers.”
News of the partnership follows just a few months after Domainex teamed up with Cresset to offer chemistry and biology-based small molecule discovery services.
The agreement with Johnson Matthey is separate according to Domainex CEO Eddy Littler, who told us "Cresset remains an important part of our offering and clients can still access these services through Domainex."