Nottingham lifesciences companies reveal JV

Sygnature Discovery and RenaSci, both based at Nottingham’s BioCity, have announced they have entered into a strategic alliance.

Sygnature and RenaSci will provide a service which will accelerate client projects in metabolic and CNS disorders from discovery into development.

Dr Rob Jones, executive director at RenaSci said: “We are pleased to have entered into a strategic alliance with Sygnature Discovery. Sygnature has established a reputation for providing integrated drug discovery resource and expertise with the ability to accelerate their clients’ drug discovery projects. We have been collaborating with Sygnature for a number of years on projects which have delivered drug candidates, so we already have a well-established working relationship.

“Our strategic alliance combines the complementary skills and experience of RenaSci and Sygnature in metabolic diseases and CNS disorders. RenaSci shall continue to provide pre-clinical services and consultancy independently, but will also be able to actively contribute to Sygnature’s fully-integrated drug discovery capability. Being located closely together at BioCity Nottingham has enabled us to hold joint meetings with clients and helped us to advance clients’ projects more quickly and effectively.”

Dr Simon Hirst, Sygnature’s CEO added: “RenaSci has gained a well-deserved reputation for excellence as an organisation which offers high quality pre-clinical research services focused on metabolic and CNS disorders. The senior management has extensive experience of drug development gained at BASF Pharma and Boots Pharmaceuticals. They have initiated and led numerous projects which have successfully progressed compounds from the laboratory into clinical development, and then onto the market.

“Sygnature already has a long-term and close working relationship with RenaSci, which will be cemented through this alliance. It enables Sygnature Discovery to offer its customers a world class, metabolic disease and CNS-focused integrated drug discovery package where novel compounds can be designed, synthesised and tested in vitro at Sygnature and then assessed in vivo at RenaSci in disease-relevant models.”