Thermo Fisher Scientific has opened its Cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM) Drug Discovery Center (CDDC) in South San Francisco. The new center provides pharma and biotech innovators with hands-on access to advanced cryo-EM technologies. These are designed to accelerate structural insights and the development of life-saving therapies.

Accelerating Drug Discovery with Cryo-EM

The CDDC provides direct access to advanced cryo-EM innovation and scientific expertise while significantly lowering the barriers to adoption. The use of cryo-EM expands the range of therapeutic targets and advanced therapies for structure-based methods. cryo-EM can help pharmaceutical companies get drugs to clinics faster. Structure-guided drugs have more than twice the rate of clinical success in half the preclinical time and at half the cost, compared with industry standards.

“At Thermo Fisher, so much of what we do is grounded in helping our customers perform research that brings life-saving medicines to patients faster and more effectively,” said Glyn Davies, President of Materials & Structural Analysis.

Building on a Decade of Collaboration

The new center builds on the success of the UK Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium, established in Cambridge, UK, in 2016. Now celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the consortium represents a longstanding collaboration between Thermo Fisher Scientific and five leading pharmaceutical companies. The new U.S.-based CDDC is modeled after this partnership framework. It will include founding customer members to extend this collaborative approach to the North American market.

The CDDC combines state-of-the-art cryo-EM instrumentation with a collaborative and collegial scientific environment for pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovators who are looking to expedite the path from discovery to development.