Sygnature Discovery, the world-leading integrated discovery and preclinical solutions provider, has acquired Peak Proteins Ltd. Following an extensive partnership between the two companies, this deal will enable seamless integration of protein production and related structure determination projects within Sygnature. Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Peak Proteins was set up in 2014 by scientists previously from AstraZeneca’s protein biochemistry and structural biology groups. Spearheaded by CEO, Mark Abbott, the company now employs 35 people, most of whom are scientists. Peak Proteins will continue to operate out of their new research facility in Macclesfield, near Sygnature’s Alderley Edge site. The Peak Proteins leadership team will also remain with the business.

Its core technologies include protein expression and purification, alongside protein crystallography, structure determination and mass spectrometry services. The acquisition will expand the scope of Sygnature’s in-house drug development capabilities, bringing increased value to partner projects and future patients. Peak Proteins has collaborated closely with Sygnature Discovery for several years and together the companies have supported a number of integrated drug discovery programmes.

The acquisition is part of Sygnature’s strategic plan to continuously invest in the expansion of its drug discovery capabilities. Steve Young, Sygnature Discovery VP of Business Development, says that “The Peak Proteins expertise will sit perfectly alongside our HTS and extensive biophysics capabilities. Their world-class expertise in protein crystallography will enhance our fragment screening and analysis activities, as well as our structure-based drug design work.”

Mark Abbott, CEO of Peak Proteins, commented: “We have always valued Sygnature Discovery’s support and are now really pleased to be joining them. It will enable us to work more closely on integrated projects in addition to our existing client base where we provide both proteins and protein structural information on a very wide range of proteins to clients across the world.”

This transaction represents the fourth acquisition that Sygnature Discovery has made in the last four years, and the first since Five Arrows Principal Investments made a significant equity investment in the company in 2021.

Sygnature Discovery’s CEO, Simon Hirst, stated: ‘We are delighted to welcome Peak Proteins and its talented scientists to the Sygnature family. Accessing high quality proteins efficiently is often a major stumbling for projects and protein structural information is still the gold standard when it comes to drug design. The closer integration of Peak Proteins into our projects will be extremely powerful in driving programmes forward.’