Your drug discovery partner
Integrated drug discovery
Swift and effective incorporation of essential assay data into the iterative design and synthesis of potential drug molecules plays a pivotal role in ensuring the timely delivery of promising drug candidates.
Bioscience
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Protein science and structural biology
Chemistry
Computer aided drug design
DMPK
in vivo pharmacology
Form and formulation
Integrated drug discovery
Bioscience
Protein science and structural biology
Chemistry
Computer aided drug design
DMPK
in vivo pharmacology
Form and formulation
Sygnature Discovery is a world-leading integrated drug discovery contract research organization based in the UK and Canada with headquarters in Nottingham (UK). Additional sites are located in Alderley Park, Macclesfield, and Glasgow (UK), as well as Montreal and Quebec City (Canada).
Its team of over 1,000 employees, which includes 900 scientists, partners with global biotech, pharma and NFP organizations. Since 2011, Sygnature Discovery has delivered 60+ novel pre-clinical and 35+ clinical compounds, with its scientists named on over 235 patents. Therapeutic areas of expertise include oncology, inflammation and immunology, neuroscience, metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, fibrotic diseases, and more.
Contact our team today to find out how we can support your journey to the clinic.
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Sygnature Discovery is a world-leading integrated drug discovery and non-clinical solutions provider, offering expertise across a broad range of therapeutic areas and biological target classes.
The battle against disease, and the pioneering mission to improve life and health, should be at the top of the agenda for every society. And early drug discovery is right at the heart of this challenge.
It’s a challenge our scientists have been meeting for decades. For us, our work is powered not just by our love of science, but by the value of what we produce. This work is about people. It’s about giving them a better and a longer life. And that is a powerful motivator for success.
Read moreCase studies
Sygnature has a strong track record of delivering compounds to the clinic. Take a look at some of our case studies which highlight how our team delivers hits, leads and candidate drugs for customers.
Many intriguing drug discovery programmes begin life at start-up biotech companies. Yet at the outset, these new organisations rarely have…
Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, CA: Leading cortisol regulation research, targeting Cushing's syndrome & cancers.
CellCentric are developing new treatments for cancer based on their understanding of epigenetics. Having investigated over 50 potential drug targets,…
Fragment-based drug discovery allows a wide section of chemical space to be interrogated with a relatively small but diverse library…
UK-based small molecule drug discovery company Focus on identifying novel treatments of inflammatory respiratory diseases, such as COPD No in-house…
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Dr Simon Hirst, CEO and Founder of Sygnature Discovery has been awarded a prestigious honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) by The University of Nottingham. The ceremony took place on Wednesday 30th July 2025, recognising Simon’s outstanding contribution to science and the pharmaceutical industry. Simon’s oration was delivered by Professor Emeritus Chris Moody, who...
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Sygnature Discovery has announced the appointment of Kieron Hall as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Board member. Kieron will play a key role in driving Sygnature Discovery’s strategic vision forward. His leadership will be instrumental in steering the group towards its ambitious growth goals, and building upon the company’s strong foundation of scientific...
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Sygnature Discovery has unveiled its humanized neuroinflammation in vitro platform, SCANME (SCreening for Anti-Neuroinflammation Molecular Entities), designed to scale up human disease modeling and push the boundaries of treatment for life-changing neuroinflammation related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Neurodegenerative diseases caused by neuroinflammation are a major global health issue, yet the drug development...
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2 minute read
Dr Simon Hirst, CEO and Founder of Sygnature Discovery has been awarded a prestigious honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) by The University of Nottingham. The ceremony took place on Wednesday 30th July 2025, recognising Simon’s outstanding contribution to science and the pharmaceutical industry. Simon’s oration was delivered by Professor Emeritus Chris Moody, who...
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3 minute read
Sygnature Discovery, a leading integrated drug discovery contract research organisation (CRO), today announces the completion of a major enhancement to its high-throughput chemistry (HTC) capabilities and laboratory infrastructure following a £1 million investment. In today’s demanding drug discovery landscape, accelerating time to value inflection remains a top industry priority. Sygnature’s enhanced high-throughput chemistry (HTC) platform...
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Sygnature Discovery is thrilled to announce the appointment of Fraser McIntosh as Vice President, In Vivo Pharmacology. Fraser will lead the company’s in vivo drug discovery operations worldwide, bringing 30 years of experience and a proven track record of success to the role. Fraser’s extensive experience as a senior leader in drug discovery spans the...
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2 minute read
Sygnature Discovery has announced the appointment of Kieron Hall as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Board member. Kieron will play a key role in driving Sygnature Discovery’s strategic vision forward. His leadership will be instrumental in steering the group towards its ambitious growth goals, and building upon the company’s strong foundation of scientific...
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Sygnature Discovery is delighted to announce the appointment of Rick Davies as Director of Protein Sciences and Structural Biology in the UK. The role will be instrumental in growing the protein science and structural biology offering and contributing to the growth of the business through scientific input and strategic direction. A key focus is to...
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Sygnature Discovery is pleased to announce its new partner Elsevier, a global information and analytics company. More than 400 Sygnature chemists based in North America and the UK now have access to Elsevier’s cutting-edge chemistry platform, Reaxys, This collaboration is a significant milestone in Sygnature’s ongoing efforts to enhance its scientific capabilities and streamline its...
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3 minute read
Sygnature Discovery has unveiled its humanized neuroinflammation in vitro platform, SCANME (SCreening for Anti-Neuroinflammation Molecular Entities), designed to scale up human disease modeling and push the boundaries of treatment for life-changing neuroinflammation related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Neurodegenerative diseases caused by neuroinflammation are a major global health issue, yet the drug development...
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3 minute read
World-leading contract research organization Sygnature Discovery has announced a major new addition to its leadership team, with the high-profile appointment of industry veteran Jade Dagher as General Manager, Canada. Jade is a “big hitter” in the sector and has over 35 years of experience in pharmaceuticals, including 25 years with Global pharma giant Merck. He...
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Latest update in 2025: Sygnature Discovery maintains its Bronze award for the second year running. We have maintained the bronze medal status awarded in 2024, with both our overall score and procurement score increasing to keep Sygnature in the top 35% of companies surveyed by EcoVadis. EcoVadis, a globally respected sustainability ratings platform, evaluates companies...
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We’re heading to the RSC-BMCS / SCI 23rd Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Cambridge, UK (Sep. 14-17). Getting started your next partnership is easy, just email us. See you there!
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We’re heading to the RSC-BMCS / SCI 23rd Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Cambridge, UK (Sep. 14-17). Getting started your next partnership is easy, just email us. See you there!
Read more 1 minute read
We’re heading to the RSC-BMCS / SCI 23rd Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Cambridge, UK (Sep. 14-17). Getting started your next partnership is easy, just email us. See you there!
Read more 1 minute read
We’re heading to the RSC-BMCS / SCI 23rd Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Cambridge, UK (Sep. 14-17). Getting started your next partnership is easy, just email us. See you there!
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Explore Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) techniques to tackle "undruggable" disease-causing proteins. Learn about different modalities and important evaluation considerations
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Presenting Jane Kendrew, Leading the Way in Translational Oncology In the realm of oncology, disease models have at times encountered scepticism; however, their significance within the drug discovery landscape remains unparalleled. Despite inherent limitations in any animal-based disease model, their strategic deployment alongside targeted inquiries, nuanced comprehension, and meticulous analysis can synergistically amplify the robustness...
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1 minute read
Discover the diabetes pandemic's impact and explore upcoming medicines and unmet needs. Join us for a compelling discussion on diabetes treatment.
Read more 1 minute read
Explore Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) techniques to tackle "undruggable" disease-causing proteins. Learn about different modalities and important evaluation considerations
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Join Dr. Sharon Cheetham and Dr. Beatrice Setnik in this webinar on regulatory challenges, safety evaluations, and advancing medical use.
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With Dr Louise Birch, Principal Scientist, Computational Chemistry High-throughput screening (HTS) can be an efficient means to rapidly identify promising compounds, however the quality and diversity of the libraries screened ultimately determines the number and value of the hits. But after the screen, how do we best perform fast follow-up, rapidly expand our hits to...
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2 minute read
Presenting Jane Kendrew, Leading the Way in Translational Oncology In the realm of oncology, disease models have at times encountered scepticism; however, their significance within the drug discovery landscape remains unparalleled. Despite inherent limitations in any animal-based disease model, their strategic deployment alongside targeted inquiries, nuanced comprehension, and meticulous analysis can synergistically amplify the robustness...
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1 minute read
With Dr Andy Mead (Sygnature Discovery) and Dr Beatrice Setnik (Altasciences) An introduction to the abuse potential requirements from both non-clinical and clinical perspectives, highlighting how scientific and regulatory aspects feed into the design of a successful abuse potential package, and how the two disciplines come together to provide a cohesive and comprehensive assessment. With...
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Meet Dr. Richard Weaver, Senior VP of Preclinical Development, a visionary in the field. Delve into the realm of pre-clinical candidates and their often concealed structural flaws. These challenges, including solubility issues, ambitious human dose projections, bioavailability hurdles, safety margins, target engagement dilemmas, and PK/PD complexities, underscore the critical need for early DMPK scientist involvement....
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Discover the diabetes pandemic's impact and explore upcoming medicines and unmet needs. Join us for a compelling discussion on diabetes treatment.
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Join Sygnature’s senior oncology team as they interactively discuss, debate and take questions on how oncology drug discovery works today, and how we could do it better.
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Addressing the Unmet Clinical Need: Explore the Challenges in Developing Animal Models for Chronic Kidney Diseases. Discover the importance of predictive validity in evaluating novel candidate drugs and how careful consideration of human renal pathologies can pave the way for successful therapeutic breakthroughs.
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