Peptide discovery company, Orbit Discovery, has entered a partnership with WuXi AppTec, a provider of R&D and manufacturing services to the global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.

Orbit will combine its peptide discovery platform and experience with WuXi AppTec’s downstream capabilities. Specifically, Orbit gains access to WuXi AppTec’s expertise in peptide optimization, peptide production and manufacturing to help its partners obtain clinically relevant data packs and materials in a rapid timeframe. Orbit will also utilize other capabilities within WuXi AppTec, in particular their expertise in cell line and assay development and biophysical analysis.

Incorporating these capabilities into the Orbit platform will enable functional assays to be developed against a wider range of targets, facilitating direct functional screens using novel bead-based technologies and microfluidics.

“We aim to move Orbit to the forefront of peptide discovery, and relationships such as this help us leverage expertise that would take far longer to grow organically,” said Neil Butt, CEO, Orbit Discovery. “We see particular value in the development and manufacturing platform of WuXi AppTec, that will enable us to generate peptides at small or large scale that incorporate chemical modifications to facilitate peptide optimizations and the journey towards a therapeutic candidate.”

Dave Madge, vice president of discovery services at WuXi AppTec, said, “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to support Orbit Discovery and its research partners. We see substantial synergies between the Orbit technology for peptide discovery and our platform for optimization, characterization and manufacture of novel peptide therapeutics.”