Hit to Lead Services
Hits to candidates, every atom counts
Our chemistry team is adept at taking fragment hits and growing them into efficient lead series and beyond. By leveraging a wealth of in-house structural and biophysical data, our synthetic, computational, analytical and medicinal chemistry specialists work together to produce novel molecules that drive our projects forward.
Design and optimise compounds with integrated chemistry
Our synthetic, computational, analytical and medicinal chemistry specialists work in concert — from fragment hit to optimised lead, every design decision is data-driven and purpose-built.
Medicinal Chemistry
Our medicinal chemistry services combine deep target-class expertise and structural insight to design potent, selective, drug-like molecules at every stage of the programme.
- Expertise in multiple target classes, including kinases, PPIs, GPCRs and ion channels
- Proficient use of crystallographic, NMR and computational structures to aid molecule design
- In-house PROTAC™, ADC and assay probe design
Synthetic Chemistry
Our expert synthetic chemistry services provide milligram-to-kilogram capabilities, combining cutting-edge automation and flow chemistry with deep expertise in route planning and optimisation.
- Fully equipped laboratories with milligram to kilogram capabilities
- Dedicated flow chemistry and reaction automation resources
- Automated, mass-directed HPLC purification capabilities
Analytical Chemistry
Our analytical chemistry services provide full characterisation and automated QC for all synthesised compounds, underpinning data quality across every project.
- Full characterisation and automated QC for all synthesised compounds
- 1H, 13C, 19F NMR spectroscopy and reverse phase LCMS
- Small molecule X-ray structure determination and chiral HPLC purity assessment
Computational Chemistry
Our dedicated computational chemists support every project with a comprehensive suite of molecular modelling, cheminformatics and data science tools.
- Molecular modelling techniques including docking, MD, virtual screening and ab initio calculations
- Cheminformatics expertise to identify and exploit SAR at all stages of drug discovery
- Machine learning, data science and in-house software to support better data-driven decisions
Integrated Drug Discovery
Turning discovery potential into clinical promise
Our medicinal chemistry teams bring decades of expertise to every stage of your programme — from fragment elaboration through lead optimisation to candidate selection, with precision at every step.
Biology Foundations
Structure & Hit ID
DEL Services
Chemistry & Data
Preclinical Readiness
Why work with us
Ensuring every molecule delivered is optimised with purpose
By integrating synthetic, computational, analytical and medicinal chemistry within a single collaborative team, we ensure every molecule we deliver is optimised with purpose. Our scientists bring broad target-class expertise, state-of-the-art tools and genuine scientific curiosity — driving projects from fragment hit through to clinical candidate with rigour and creativity at every step.
Meet the Chemistry team:
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James Davidson PhD
Director of Chemistry
James Davidson PhD
Director of Chemistry
James Davidson joined the company in 1997; shortly after gaining his PhD from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge.
During his time at Vernalis, he has worked on numerous protein target classes and therapeutic indications and is a co-inventor on over 20 patents. Most recently he led the chemistry efforts on projects targeting Bcl-2 family proteins for cancer.
James is currently the Director of Chemistry; with responsibility for synthetic and medicinal chemistry, as well as computational chemistry and cheminformatics.
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Lee Walmsley
Head of Chemistry Innovation Technology, Medicinal Chemistry
Lee Walmsley
Head of Chemistry Innovation Technology, Medicinal Chemistry
Lee Walmsley has been with Vernalis since 2001 and, prior to that, was with Roche for 9 years. Lee has led successful drug discovery projects in collaboration with our partners based in Europe, USA and Japan. He is a champion of bringing new methodologies to our chemistry group. Leading a small technology team, he has established our flow chemistry capabilities and augmented this with state of the art organometallic, electrochemical, redox and photocatalytic chemistry.
Hit to Lead Case Studies
Explore how our integrated chemistry expertise has driven breakthrough discoveries for partners, from fragment-based hit identification to the delivery of pre-clinical candidates.
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Hsp90 oral backup pre-clinical candidate
Fragment-based and in silico hits were combined into a novel series of Hsp90 inhibitors, delivering tumour growth regression on oral dosing in a BT474 xenograft model.
Outcome Oral pre-clinical candidate — the follow-on to the intravenous phase II compound. -
DYRK1A and DYRK1B selective inhibitors
A Vernalis and Servier NMR fragment screen delivered two series of potent, selective DYRK1A inhibitors, including the brain-penetrant tool compound 34.
Outcome Two optimised inhibitor series and a selective, brain-penetrant tool compound.
Let’s accelerate your chemistry programme
We’d love to hear from you! Head to our contact page to get started.