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STORM Therapeutics: From Lead to Pre-Candidate Nomination in 18 Months
STORM Therapeutics: From Lead to Pre-Candidate Nomination in 18 Months
Case study
About us
Our History
Since 2004 Sygnature Discovery has been offering high-quality drug discovery services and providing guidance and support to customers for the discovery of novel medicines.
Simon’s Journey
Dr Simon Hirst founded Sygnature Discovery in 2004. We asked Simon what had motivated him to establish the company:
“After working in large and mid-sized pharma, I was involved in outsourcing several services, and frankly, the experience was often disappointing. Once we engaged a company, we’d quickly realize they didn’t have the right skills, infrastructure, or research capabilities to deliver what we needed.”
“Communication was another major issue. When problems arose, well-intentioned teams would try to fix things before raising the issue. By the time we found out, months had passed with little progress. Managing outsourced projects felt out of control – skills, capabilities, and communication were all lacking. I knew this could be done better. It had to be done better because drug discovery must succeed whenever possible.”
Our Name
When the company was founded in August 2004, to provide medicinal and synthetic chemistry services, it was called Sygnature Chemical Services. The name “Sygnature” combines “synthesis” and “nature,” inspired by Dr Simon Hirst’s vision of incorporating principles of green chemistry.
In September 2011, with the creation of our Bioscience department, we became Sygnature Discovery, a name that better reflects our ability to design, synthesize, and test novel compounds in an integrated way throughout the drug discovery process.
Now in 2026 we offer the full range of drug discovery disciplines from protein & structure through biology, chemistry and computational chemistry, to DMPK, in vivo pharmacology and form & formulation.
We have also grown significantly in scale, into a company with a global presence. We operate out of the UK and Canada, serving organisations around the globe. We also work across variety of therapeutic areas, modalities and target classes. Sygnature Discovery remains flexible and strives to provide innovative solutions designed to fit every customer’s needs.
Company History
Sygnature Timeline
Sygnature Discovery prides itself on offering a unique, high-quality, distinctive and tailored integrated drug discovery service to our clients.
