About us
Science that moves the needle Partnerships that endure
We combine decades of medicinal chemistry expertise, advanced biophysical methods and cutting-edge computational technologies to accelerate drug discovery from fragment to candidate.
About Us
Tackling the toughest therapeutic targets
For over 25 years, Vernalis has partnered with collaborators to take on some of the most challenging therapeutic targets — from protein-protein interactions to entirely novel target classes. We bring deep expertise in overcoming the hurdles that stall drug discovery, delivering validated hits, robust leads and strong candidates.
Our teams express and engineer proteins for biophysical and structural studies across multiple expression systems. We develop novel assay technologies and apply advanced biophysical methods — including high-resolution NMR, mass spectrometry, SPR, ITC and X-ray crystallography — to validate and advance chemical series. For hit identification, we combine fragment-based approaches, biochemical assays and computational methods with cutting-edge DEL technology as part of the HitGen Group.
Our Expertise
From fragments to clinical candidates
With decades of medicinal chemistry expertise, we take your programme from early fragment hits all the way through lead optimisation to candidate selection — with confidence at every stage.
Powered by one of the world’s largest Syrris Asia flow chemistry platforms, our technology group delivers automated synthesis and rapid compound library generation at scale. Our cell biology and DMPK teams de-risk your chemical series through pre-clinical studies, while our computational chemistry group pushes boundaries with proprietary machine learning methodologies. We’re also proud contributors to the scientific community — our open-source Vernalis KNIME nodes were the most downloaded extension in 2023.
Our Approach
Our robust hit-ID approach enables us to deliver multiple well validated hit series to begin medicinal chemistry campaigns.
Validated Hits Delivered
Our hit‑ID workflow generates multiple well‑validated hit series, providing strong starting points for effective and efficient medicinal chemistry programmes.
Challenging Targets Expertise
Experience with difficult therapeutic targets gives us deep insight into the need for validated chemical matter and reliable discovery platforms.
Highest Quality Protein
All capabilities rely on exceptional protein quality, produced through rigorous methodologies to support every stage of drug discovery success.
Versatile Expression Systems
Our Protein Science team expresses, purifies and engineers proteins using bacterial, yeast, insect and mammalian systems to meet diverse project needs.
Collaboration
Collaborating with a wide range of partners
Vernalis can support programs from gene to candidate and any aspect in between with our established and robust drug discovery platform.
Collaboration structures vary from long term, multi target projects through to short discrete pieces of work. Interested in collaborating?
Contact us to learn more about our capabilities and opportunities.
Partner with Vernalis
We’d love to hear from you! Head to our contact page to get started.