The expansion will double Sygnature’s drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) department over the next 18 months as the company implements a recruitment program.
The new facility – co-located across from its current Nottingham and Alderley Park sites – is currently being outfitted and will be occupied and operational by October, said Paul Clewlow, senior vice president of business development at Sygnature.
Recruitment is ongoing, Clewlow told us, and three of the company’s senior team members will be relocating to the site.
Demand and expansion
Clewlow said a private equity investment secured in 2017 has given the company flexibility to expand via several mechanisms. This includes its recent acquisition of a preclinical experimental services company as well as extending its in-house capabilities and expanding its laboratories and footprint to access a larger pool of talent, he said.
Demand has been driven by “the general increase in outsourcing preclinical research from both large pharma and new start-up biotechs,” Clewlow said.
He also cited “increased traction in key markets, particularly the US,” which “has stimulated further establishing ourselves in the key American life science research hubs.”
Therapeutically, Clewlow said Sygnature is seeing a significant increase in demand in immuno-oncology and rare disease areas, as well as CNS disorders.
“Geographically we are seeing a huge expansion in the US, which last year passed the 40% mark out of our total revenue,” he added, noting that the company is also seeing more interest from Japan and the Asian biotech sector.
