It’s important to lay strong foundations for successful drug discovery at this first stage of the process. Our integrated target identification and validation platform combines AI with expert insights, and rigorous lab validation to guide targets through robust evaluation, ready for hit discovery.
Validated, high-quality hits, delivered through integrated technologies and expert collaboration, give you a confident starting point for faster drug discovery.
Turning promising leads into clinical candidates with speed, precision, and the scientific expertise to generate high-quality data and deliver real patient impact.
Discover precise insights into brain neurochemistry with Sygnature Discovery's in vivo microdialysis and cOFM services. With over 20 years of expertise, we design bespoke studies that reveal how compounds modulate neurotransmitter systems in health and disease. Using UHPLC/HPLC with electrochemical detection or mass spectrometry, we deliver robust PK/PD data to support confident CNS decision making.
Delivering integrated, modality-agnostic drug discovery to tackle complex biology, accelerate development, and advance innovative therapies with confidence.
Advancing next-generation ADCs through payload-focused design, integrated expertise, and collaborative innovation to deliver safer, more selective therapies.
Driving biologics innovation through integrated design, structural biology, and multidisciplinary expertise to accelerate next-generation therapies from concept to clinic.
Combining deep therapeutic expertise with translational insight to design strategies, reduce risk, and accelerate discovery programs toward clinical success.
Accelerating oncology drug discovery through integrated expertise, innovative modalities, and translational insight to deliver candidates with real clinical impact.
Driving immunology and inflammation drug discovery through tailored assays, translational models, and integrated expertise for faster clinical success.
Advancing CNS drug discovery through integrated models, translational biomarkers, and multidisciplinary expertise to overcome complexity and accelerate therapeutic innovation.
Designing and advancing differentiated small-molecule therapies for obesity and diabetes through integrated expertise, mechanistic insight, and translational strategies.
Inobrodib, an exciting, first-in-class oral anti-cancer drug in clinical development by CellCentric, was collaboratively designed, synthesized and supported on its pre-clinical journey by an integrated project team at Sygnature Discovery. Inobrodib is now showing promising results in Phase I and II trials for multiple myeloma and other cancer types.
AI Meets Expertise: A hybrid Workflow For Modern Target ID | QIAGEN & Sygnature
In drug discovery, generating targets is no longer the challenge.
The real question is how to identify the few worth investing months of research and significant resources to pursue.
Hear expert perspectives on how AI, pathway analysis and scientific expertise are shaping modern target identification.
It’s important to lay strong foundations for successful drug discovery at this first stage of the process. Our integrated target identification and validation platform combines AI with expert insights, and rigorous lab validation to guide targets through robust evaluation, ready for hit discovery.
Validated, high-quality hits, delivered through integrated technologies and expert collaboration, give you a confident starting point for faster drug discovery.
Turning promising leads into clinical candidates with speed, precision, and the scientific expertise to generate high-quality data and deliver real patient impact.
Delivering integrated, modality-agnostic drug discovery to tackle complex biology, accelerate development, and advance innovative therapies with confidence.
Advancing next-generation ADCs through payload-focused design, integrated expertise, and collaborative innovation to deliver safer, more selective therapies.
Driving biologics innovation through integrated design, structural biology, and multidisciplinary expertise to accelerate next-generation therapies from concept to clinic.
Combining deep therapeutic expertise with translational insight to design strategies, reduce risk, and accelerate discovery programs toward clinical success.
Accelerating oncology drug discovery through integrated expertise, innovative modalities, and translational insight to deliver candidates with real clinical impact.
Driving immunology and inflammation drug discovery through tailored assays, translational models, and integrated expertise for faster clinical success.
Advancing CNS drug discovery through integrated models, translational biomarkers, and multidisciplinary expertise to overcome complexity and accelerate therapeutic innovation.
Designing and advancing differentiated small-molecule therapies for obesity and diabetes through integrated expertise, mechanistic insight, and translational strategies.
Inobrodib, an exciting, first-in-class oral anti-cancer drug in clinical development by CellCentric, was collaboratively designed, synthesized and supported on its pre-clinical journey by an integrated project team at Sygnature Discovery. Inobrodib is now showing promising results in Phase I and II trials for multiple myeloma and other cancer types.
At Sygnature Discovery, we recognize the diverse and complex ion channel research needs of our clients.
To address this, we offer a flexible and innovative range of drug discovery solutions, utilizing the latest ion channel technologies and a comprehensive portfolio of electrophysiology assays. Equipped to provide the necessary tools and expertise to support your ion channel drug discovery, we offer over 150 validated ion channel targets and assays across major channel families, species orthologs and disease-relevant variants, as well as generation of bespoke cell lines for proprietary or non-standard targets.
Discover tailored ion channel solutions, adapted to your program needs
Tailored solutions around your biology and goals, combining ion channel screening, electrophysiology, and customizable cell line generation built on state-of-the-art platforms.
Target Development
We create robust, screening-ready ion channel tools that reflect your intended biology and therapeutic context.
Scalable screening designed to find quality hits quickly and keep SAR learning moving.
384/1536-Well Formats
For rapid hit identification across large libraries.
Fluorescence-Based Assays
Membrane potential, ion flux, Ca2+ for primary screening.
Automated Electrophysiology
Higher-fidelity confirmation or follow-up screening using automated patch clamp platforms.
Custom Plate Plans & Controls
Built to suit your library design and working hypotheses
Hit Verification & Lead Optimization
Integrated cascades that turn hits into confident leads, with selectivity and safety built in.
Concentration-Response Profiling
Potency and efficacy ranking.
Routine Screening
Regular structure activity testing to keep chemistry cycles progressing
Selectivity & Safety Panels
Panels across related families, orthologs or variants, and liability assessments in cardiac and central nervous system at the right decision gates.
Mechanism-Specific Characterization
E.g., kinetics/state dependence as required.
Leading technologies for rapid, reliable results
Fluorescence-Based Screening
High-throughput ion channel screening using 384 and 1536-well format with endpoints, including calcium flux, membrane potential and thallium flux, across an extensive panel of validated targets.
Electrophysiology Studies
384-well automated patch clamp platforms support high-throughput screening and lead optimization profiling. These include solid supported membrane-based systems, enabling efficient and scalable electrophysiology across a wide range of ion channel targets.
Manual Patch Clamp
To complement our high-throughput screening and automated electrophysiology services, we employ classical manual and two-electrode voltage clamp techniques. These methods support mechanistic studies, channel characterization and heterometric subunit investigations for complex ion channel systems.
Safety & Selectivity Panels
Early safety insight reduces late-stage surprises. We embed cardiac and CNS liability screening into cascades from the start, using high-throughput electrophysiology and orthogonal assay formats to provide clear, decision-ready readouts aligned to your mechanism, modality and exposure expectations.
What we offer
Cardiac safety screening from focused early-risk assays through broader liability profiling
CNS safety screening to flag neurological off-target risk early
Flexible integration at hit-finding, hit-to-lead or lead-optimization stages
Consistent reporting outputs to support rapid SAR decisions
Selectivity is rarely a single assay question. We offer curated and customizable selectivity panels to confirm that activity at the intended target and mechanism, including family-level selectivity, species ortholog comparisons, and disease variant profiling where relevant.
How we support selectivity:
Off-the-shelf selectivity panels for ion channel families
Bespoke panels designed around your specific risk hypotheses
Cross-platform confirmation to ensure clean SAR learning
Rapid turnaround with consistent analysis templates
Customized Screening Cascades
No two ion channel projects are the same. We design cascades to match your target biology, modality and decision gates, from rapid hit finding through to late stage profiling.
Typical cascade elements:
Primary HTS in throughput-appropriate formats
Secondary confirmation in higher-fidelity electrophysiology
Mechanism-specific protocols such as state dependence/kinetics
Routine SAR testing for fast medicinal chemistry feedback
Rapid turnaround with priority slots to maintain momentum
Integrated Drug Discovery Support
Sygnature Discovery combines premium cell biology and screening expertise with integrated drug discovery capabilities to act as an adaptable extension of in-house research teams, guiding projects from hit identification to lead optimization. Advanced informatics ensure transparent communication and data sharing, enabling unified collaboration to achieve your drug discovery goals.
Why Choose Sygnature Discovery for Ion Channel Support?
With more than twenty years of ion channel leadership, we deliver confident, decision driving data across hundreds of programs for global biotech and pharma teams. We maintain the largest commercially available collection of ion channel targets and assays and generate bespoke cell lines for proprietary or non-standard targets.
Our scientists pioneer challenging areas such as organellar and lysosomal channels, variant characterization, and multi species panels. We design cascades to answer go or no-go questions, not just to generate data. Ion channel expertise is embedded within Sygnature’s wider discovery engine, giving you one team and one integrated workflow from gene to lead and beyond, with no hand off gaps.
Explore Our Target Classes
Ion channels sit within Sygnature Discovery’s broader target class expertise. Browse the full picture:
Our validated portfolio spans species orthologs and disease-relevant variants alongside standard targets, and we generate bespoke cell lines where a specific species or variant isn’t already available.
There is no standard turnaround for ion channel screening projects, as timelines depend on the scope and complexity of the work.
We tailor every program to our customers’ needs, from rapid studies using established assays to custom assay development and longer-term research projects. Following initial discussion, we’ll agree on a project plan and timeline that aligns with your goals.
Yes.
Ion channel work sits within Sygnature’s wider integrated drug discovery workflow, so a screening cascade can progress directly into hit identification and lead optimization with the same team, rather than handing off to a separate provider.
For validated targets, we can provide data on key assay performance metrics, including reference compound reproducibility, vehicle control stability, assay success rates, and Z′-factor values.
Ion channel drug discovery is the process of identifying and characterizing compounds that modulate ion channels, proteins that control the flow of charged particles across cell membranes and play a central role in areas such as pain, cardiac function and the nervous system. It typically combines high-throughput screening with electrophysiology to confirm functional activity.
Fluorescence-based screening measures the secondary consequence of ion channel activity using dyes (e.g. calcium flux, membrane potential). These assays are used for rapid, high-throughput primary screening as well as downstream screening. Electrophysiology directly measures the ionic current through the channel providing higher-fidelity functional conformation. The availability of both automated and manual patch clamp platforms provides flexibility for high-throughput screening, alongside secondary screening and in-depth mechanistic characterization.
Traditional cardiac safety screening (hERG, Nav1.5, Cav1.2) is available, together with broader cardiac, neurotoxicity or customized screening panels.
Few areas of drug discovery are as challenging as neuroscience.
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Related Capabilities
We bring together a dynamic blend of new talent and experiences pharmaceutical industry experts from around the world, delivering excellence across each stage of discovery.
Custom assay solutions built around your biology delivering reliable, decision-ready data to advance hit finding and compound profiling with confidence.
Precise ion channel and transporter insights through tailored electrophysiology studies supporting target validation, hit identification, and lead optimization decisions.
Integrated hit identification using HTS, fragment screening, and advanced automation delivering high-quality starting points for successful drug discovery.
