Today marks a significant milestone for Nicoya as we announce our acquisition of Applied Photophysics. This strategic move expands our portfolio and strengthens our commitment to empowering scientists with cutting-edge tools for biologics characterization in drug discovery and development. It’s remarkable to reflect on how, just a decade ago, a team of six was building and delivering the first OpenSPR instruments—and today, we’re honored to be joining forces with another leading innovator in biophysical characterization.
While biologics-mediated therapies account for over 40% of the therapeutic pipeline, there continue to be challenges in the assessment of safety and efficacy of biologics, as they are more complex molecules than traditional drug modalities. The success of biologics therapeutic development hinges on a deep understanding of its stability and structure, both of which impact its function. The combined portfolio of Applied Photophysics and Nicoya will provide researchers and drug developers with a suite of automated, high-throughput, and integrated tools to characterize the three most critical aspects of biologics: stability, structure, and function, without the need to employ disparate technologies and datasets. Ultimately, Nicoya and Applied Photophysics’ comprehensive solution aims to enable researchers to rapidly advance drug discovery, drug development, and AI-powered pipelines.
Advancing Candidate Selection with Integrated Biophysical Insights
Applied Photophysics’ technologies, such as circular dichroism (CD) and nano differential scanning fluorimetry (nanoDSF), are essential for characterizing the higher-order structure of proteins and understanding their dynamic interactions. By integrating these capabilities with SPR, scientists can gain a holistic view of their candidates, from their fundamental structure to their functional behavior and stability over time.
Combining these techniques accelerates the selection of the most developable candidates early in the drug discovery process, empowering researchers to:
- Determine the precise 3D structure of biologics: Applied Photophysics’ Chirascan enables detailed analysis of protein folding and stability, crucial for understanding how biologics function, and optimizing therapeutic formulations for shelf life and pharmacokinetics.
- Quantify biomolecular interactions: Nicoya’s SPR technology provides real-time, label-free analysis of binding kinetics, affinity, concentration, and epitopes, vital for drug target validation and lead optimization.
- High-throughput protein stability screening: Applied Photophysics’ SUPR-DSF platform enables screening of protein stability for hundreds to thousands of candidates and conditions, providing key insights into developability early on.
- Study reaction kinetics: Applied Photophysics’ stopped-flow instruments allow scientists to gain a unique understanding of enzymatic processes by enabling them to investigate fast kinetic events.
- Streamline workflows: The integration of these technologies into a unified platform simplifies workflows, reduces data analysis bottlenecks, and accelerates the drug discovery process.
Together, Nicoya and Applied Photophysics’ innovative products aim to accelerate drug discovery and development, while seamlessly integrating with AI-powered pipelines.
We are committed to providing scientists worldwide with the tools they need to unravel the complexities of biologics and bring life-changing therapies to patients faster.
Read more: https://nicoyalife.com/news/nicoya-acquires-applied-photophysics/
Applied Photophysics Website: https://www.photophysics.com/