cryo-EM Facility to Speed Drug Discovery

Biotechnology company Proteros has announced plans to build a leading Centre of Excellence for industrial cryo-EM applications to improve success rates in drug discovery. Focusing on technologically challenging targets, the centre will expand the company’s expertise in protein science and protein crystallography, while representing another step towards making cryo-EM a routine industrial application in drug discovery.

Proteros is collaborating with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop the experimental methods, protein sample preparation processes and workflows, as part of a programme that encourages pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to engage with contract research organisations (CRO’s) that can offer cryoEM start up and development packages. This will enable participants to assess the potential of their samples before committing to costs of further development in-house or through CRO service contracts.

Proteros also announced the formation of a cryo-EM consortium that will offer industry partners dedicated access to microscope time and preferred access to Proteros’ protein science capabilities. Membership will provide hands on cryo-EM training, data processing and interpretation sessions.

 Dr. Stephan Krapp, Director Structural Biology at Proteros commented “Customers will benefit from our expertise in protein science and an experienced cryo-EM team, including expertise in protein crystallography. This initiative will advance cryo-EM toward routine application in drug discovery by enabling the study of proteins not accessible by x-ray crystallography.”

The Proteros cryo-EM facility (Munich) will feature a Thermo Scientific Glacios Cryo-TEM with advanced Falcon 4 direct electron detector and will be co-located at Proteros’ Munich headquarters alongside the Protein Sciences department. Proteros has one of the largest dedicated Protein Sciences teams staffed with more than 50 experts enabling it to deliver fit for purpose protein constructs of the highest quality.

 “Collaborating with Proteros to meet the cryo-EM needs of customers will accelerate biopharmaceutical research and development and will also encourage more scientists to embrace cryo-EM for their drug discovery research,” said Raymond Schrijver, senior director of electron microscopy for pharma at Thermo Fisher. “Cryo-EM is taking structure-based drug design into a new era, and the rapid adoption of this technique will have a direct impact on drug discovery and medical treatments.”

Further information at www.proteros.de