Thermo Fisher Scientific opened its Cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM) Drug Discovery Center (CDDC) in South San Francisco. The new center provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with immersive, hands-on access to advanced cryo-EM technologies designed to accelerate structural insights and the development of therapies, according to Thermo.
The use of cryo-EM not only expands the range of therapeutic targets and advanced therapies for structure-based methods but also can help pharmaceutical companies get drugs to clinics faster, said a Thermo spokesperson, adding that structure-guided drugs have more than twice the rate of clinical success in half the preclinical time and at half the cost, compared with industry standards.
“The opening of our Cryo-EM Drug Discovery Center creates a collaborative environment where scientists can directly harness the power of Cryo-EM to better understand disease at the molecular level and accelerate therapeutic development,” noted Glyn Davies, president of materials and structural analysis, Thermo Fisher.
Company officials point out that the opening of the center in the Oyster Point area of South San Francisco builds on the success of the UK Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium, established in Cambridge, U.K., in 2016. Thermo adds that the consortium represents a longstanding collaboration between Thermo Fisher Scientific and five pharmaceutical companies. Modeled after this framework, the new U.S.-based CDDC will include founding customer members to extend this collaborative approach to the North American market.
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