Expanding Toolbox for Drug Discovery

BY MELISSA PARSEY, SCIENTIFIC CONTENT DEVELOPER, CAYMAN CHEMICAL COMPANY

Cayman Chemical grows its drug discovery toolbox with an integrative approach when opportunity knocks.

LNPs: The Next Frontier of Drug Discovery Hardship brings people together. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an unprecedented common adversary that inspired a collective effort to overcome and persevere. Amidst the suffering and untold disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new wave of innovation was born.

The COVID-19 vaccines surged a monumental interest in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). In development for nearly 20 years as protective and directed drug delivery carriers, the COVID-19 pandemic served as an opportunity for LNPs to jump suddenly from pilot scale to massive worldwide application. The increased awareness highlighted the versatility of LNPs to deliver RNA/DNA, antibodies, vaccines, and cancer treatments with great precision.

Simple and inexpensive lipids like cholesterol and egg lecithin comprise most of the protective fatty soap bubble that is an LNP. The key lipids, those that direct small RNA or DNA strands to pack into the inside or place an antibody navigator on the outside of the LNP, make up a small fraction of the total lipid composition. Cayman was one of only a handful of companies with the experience necessary to bring to market research-grade versions of the same lipids used in the COVID-19 vaccines. Now, Cayman is the premier source of ionizable and cationic lipids, one of the key LNP components. The company also offers services for custom lipid synthesis and a number of ancillary lipid-related services, including analytical testing and full-scale GMP production of novel lipids.

Today, Cayman is bringing an LNP-based drug discovery service to Michigan. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Cayman has grown to be a formidable presence as one of the leading suppliers of lipids and lipid-related services for biomedical research. Operations are underway to offer an LNP formulation service by mid-2023. Once complete, clients will have their choice of options for the design, formulation, and analysis of LNPs – all from a single-source partner.

Innovation Driven by Integration

Cayman is more than just lipids. After 42 years of growth, Cayman has built integrated teams of experienced scientists that fuel the discovery of new medicines across many therapeutic areas.

Cayman’s drug discovery program was born from opportunity. Having already established a core team of synthetic chemists, the departure of Pfizer’s Ann Arbor R&D facility in 2006 opened up the chance for Cayman to tap into the pool of now displaced medicinal chemists who brought years of expertise and Big Pharma experience to Cayman’s growing portfolio of products and services.

An expanded synthetic toolbox for medicinal chemistry that improves the quality of drug candidates and shortens drug discovery times is made possible at Cayman. By leveraging the synergy between medicinal and synthetic chemistry, Cayman brings the collective wisdom of its expert chemists to client projects. Custom building blocks or commercially unavailable starting materials can be synthesized in-house, increasing the number of substrates available and producing more structurally diverse compound libraries. Cayman’s drug discovery chemists have extensive experience performing a variety of complex, multi-step organic syntheses. When problems arise, they can troubleshoot reaction chemistries and work through the challenges of synthetic roadblocks.

Cayman is more than just lipids. After 42 years of growth, Cayman has built integrated teams of experienced scientists that fuel the discovery of new medicines across many therapeutic areas.

These early ventures in drug discovery set the foundation for a drug discovery program at Cayman. Now, the company offers a thriving suite of integrated contracted services, from novel drug design and hit-to-lead optimization to assay development, high-throughput screening, and bioanalytical mass spectrometry.

A Drug Discovery Success Story

Drug discovery is a long, costly, and risky endeavor. At Cayman, this investment is paying off. The success of the company has brought about the opportunity for Cayman to pursue its own internal drug development program. It has been known for decades that the E-series prostaglandins promote bone growth. Many unmet needs in medicine, including osteoporosis, dental implants, spinal fusions, and complex bone fractures awaited a solution that was selective and mitigated side effects. In 2015, Cayman discovered and patented a series of EP4 receptor agonists highly selective for osteogenic activity. KMN-159 was the lead compound that emerged from this series. Today, it is being assessed in an equine proof-of-concept study to evaluate its feasibility for bone growth and repair.

This success was made possible by the drug discovery team at Cayman. What can Cayman help you discover? CAYMANCHEM.COM