Domainex Ltd., a leading, integrated medicines research services partner and recent recipient of the King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade, announces the purchase of its third, multi-channel Malvern Panalytical WAVEdelta, powered by Creoptix technology. Simultaneously, Domainex announces the expansion of its biophysical suite of technologies through the purchase of a Malvern Panalytical PEAQ-ITC instrument with MicroCal technology.
The addition of a third WAVEdelta instrument to the Domainex portfolio provides the company with unsurpassed adoption of Grating-Coupled Interferometry (GCI) for the characterization of molecular interactions. The high level of sensitivity and confidence delivered by GCI and the waveRAPID method provides increased throughput and early kinetic characterization of the interactions between potential drug molecules and their target proteins.
GCI, a technique analogous to, but more sensitive than, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), accurately measures binding dissociation rates and kinetic parameters. The multiple WAVEdelta instruments at Domainex’s Biology Centre of Excellence in Cambridge, UK, each with four channels, allow several protein targets to be assessed in parallel, significantly boosting the organisation’s capacity and turnaround time.
The Malvern Panalytical PEAQ-ITC, powered by MicroCal technology, uses the biophysical technique of Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) for the label-free study of biomolecular interactions in solution. It is a highly sensitive instrument which requires only low sample volumes to determine affinity, stoichiometry and thermodynamic parameters for molecular interactions. The instrument provides complementary data to that delivered by GCI, broadening and consolidating Domainex’s expertise and capabilities in biophysical compound profiling.
Commenting on the purchases, Dr Tom Mander, CEO of Domainex, said: “We are seeing exceptionally strong and continuous demand for our drug discovery services from organisations across the world, the vast majority of whom provide repeat custom. We serve our clients’ needs whether it be to elucidate protein structures, support hit discovery projects or undertake fully integrated drug discovery programmes thereby optimising compounds with disease-modifying potential. Our integrated drug discovery platform provides innovation to our clients by combining our wide range of sophisticated technologies and our exceptionally talented scientists within the Cambridge UK bioscience cluster. These latest purchases will ensure we push the bar higher with cutting-edge technologies as we continue to deliver effective candidate medicines to treat a range of life-limiting human diseases.”
Dr Trevor Askwith, Head of Biology at Domainex, added: “Biophysical interactions and binding kinetics are increasingly critical for our clients’ programmes. This investment increases our capacity for delivering binding kinetics and adds the ability to measure binding thermodynamics, all in a label-free solution-based system.”
Dr Mark Carnegie-Brown, VP of Pharmaceuticals at Malvern Panalytical, commented: “We are delighted to see the key role played by our WAVEdelta and PEAQ-ITC systems in Domainex’s drug discovery platform, helping accelerate the development of much-needed new medicines. As we expand our analytical portfolio and expertise upstream in the drug development workflow, we continue to build synergies with exciting companies like Domainex which provide the services needed to assess the developability of safe and effective pharmaceutical products. As demand for services and know-how to support drug discovery continues to rise, the precision, confidence and flexibility provided by three WAVEdelta systems, alongside the PEAQ-ITC, assure Domainex’s clients that their drug discovery programmes are in the best possible hands.”
