Strategic partnership to accelerate drug discovery with X-ray crystallography

Concept Life Sciences, a UK-based drug discovery specialist, has joined forces with Accelero Biostructures, a US-based leader in X-ray crystallography, to accelerate early drug discovery. This partnership integrates cutting-edge structural biology with comprehensive drug development expertise, aiming to reduce drug discovery timelines by up to tenfold.

By combining Concept’s broad capabilities - including biophysics, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology - with Accelero’s proprietary X-ray crystallography platforms, the collaboration provides pharma companies with an advanced, structure-based approach to hit identification and lead optimisation.

Accelero’s high-throughput ABS-ServicesSM and ABS-OneStepSM platforms deliver rapid and precise protein-ligand interaction data, enabling informed drug design, even for challenging targets. These insights, paired with Concept’s iterative optimisation strategies, streamline the progression from hit discovery to clinical candidate selection.

The partnership combines Concept’s integrated drug discovery process with Accelero’s crystallography-based fragment screening for hit generation and iterative crystallography-driven inhibitor optimisation. Together, they will provide clients with efficient hit-to-lead development, improving key factors such as target affinity, selectivity, and ADME properties. This is expected to significantly reduce development timelines and deliver faster transitions from discovery to clinical stages, which in many cases could be faster by ten times.

“This collaboration unites two complementary teams with a shared vision to push the boundaries of drug discovery,” said Debanu Das, Co-Founder and CEO of Accelero Biostructures. “Together, we can enhance the quality and speed of early-stage development, helping our clients bring novel therapies to patients faster.”

Ben Cliff, CEO of Concept Life Sciences, added: “By partnering with Accelero, we strengthen our ability to support biopharma innovators with cutting-edge structural biology and integrated discovery expertise. This alliance reinforces our commitment to scientific rigor and efficiency, accelerating the journey from discovery to clinical development.”

The partnership is already driving progress, with multiple collaborative projects underway. By utilising their combined strengths, Concept and Accelero are positioned to deliver transformative impact in the global drug discovery landscape.

More information online