Crowning glory as Domainex wins a King’s Award for outstanding growth

Cambridge-based life sciences research services company Domainex Ltd, now employing almost 120 staff comprising predominantly highly qualified research biologists and chemists, has received the King’s Award for International Trade for Outstanding Short Term Growth in overseas sales over three years.

From its research Centres of Excellence in and around Cambridge UK, the company supports clients in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Japan to advance their research projects, especially in the search for new medicines addressing human disease.

The company has established a solid foundation internationally on which to build and continues to grow organically with year-on-year growth in overseas revenues over three years totalling over 100 per cent.

Domainex is a multi-award-winning business that works in partnership with clients from a variety of sectors around the world – including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and patient foundations. 

Its approach to drug discovery is genuinely integrated, offering the full range of pre-clinical drug discovery services from initial biological disease target identification to nomination of drug candidates, thereby supporting clients across a key part of the innovation value chain of the discovery of new medicines, ready to advance to testing in patients in clinical trials.

From protein production, assay development and hit identification through to medicinal chemistry for lead optimisation, Domainex’s dedicated experts work collaboratively with clients to provide tailored scientific outcomes, adding significant value to their drug discovery projects.

Domainex’s innovative, customised suites of biology and chemistry technologies are designed to maximise efficiency and innovation. Its integrated approach has a proven record of success in delivering timely and cost-effective outcomes and generating new intellectual property.

Its multi-disciplinary team of more than 100 scientists has a wealth of experience in drug discovery (on average over 10 years per scientist) and c95 per cent of its scientists are qualified to PhD/MSc level. Many have previous experience gained from a variety of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as from leading academic institutes.

The company currently works across a variety of disease settings, including cancer, fibrosis, neurodegeneration and ocular disease.

Domainex says it is honoured to have received a King’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2023. It is particularly proud that this growth was achieved organically and mostly coincided with the challenging backdrop of the COVID pandemic. It is a testament to the company’s excellent reputation and commitment to delivering high-quality drug discovery services for its life science clients. Indeed, in a client survey conducted in 2022, >95 per cent of Domainex’s customers reported that they would recommend Domainex to someone in their professional network.

Dr Tom Mander, CEO of Domainex, says: “We are delighted to have been recognised with this highly prestigious award. Our growth is attributable to the hard work and dedication of the whole team and is especially valued as it was achieved during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our scientists regularly receive glowing feedback from our clients for their innovation and customer focus. This is at the heart of why we remain a pioneer in drug discovery research services, and I dedicate this award to them.”

The award follows Domainex’s success at several awards events in 2022, including at the Cambridge Independent SME awards (Gold award for High Growth Business of the Year and Silver award for Business of the Year: more than 50 employees) and the SME National Business Awards (Silver award for High Growth Business of the Year).

Domainex was also awarded Best Drug Development, Discovery and Contract Research Organisation, 2022 – United Kingdom at the Global Health and Pharma Global Excellence Awards, earlier this year.

Additionally, Domainex has been selected as a finalist in the upcoming Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards in the Category of Employer of the Year, while Dr Tom Mander has been selected as a finalist in the CEO of the Year category.

Since 2021, Domainex’s headcount has increased by over fifty per cent and the company is still recruiting new talent.

In 2022, Domainex worked with a record number of clients (over 90) in 14 countries (including the USA, Australia, Japan, Israel and several European countries).

Significant new contracts signed in the last 12-months, included a collaboration with NRG Therapeutics focused on developing novel small molecule disease-modifying medicines for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, MND and other debilitating neurodegenerative disorders.

Domainex is also providing integrated drug discovery services to support local, Cambridge-based company, Amphista Therapeutics’ projects in the field of targeted protein degradation.

Domainex has recently invested in a significant amount of new equipment, spending c£2 million on equipment in 2022, which included a flow cytometer, additional biophysics instrumentation, liquid handlers, flow chemistry equipment and a ‘Jess’: Simple Western™ Automated Western Blot System. The company is committed to providing its scientists with access to the latest equipment and technologies.

For the past two years, the company has achieved record overall levels of revenues. The company continues to grow strongly and to invest in new talent, expanding its state-of-the-art facilities, deploying cutting-edge instrumentation, broadening its reach into new markets and giving its people opportunities to develop their careers and enjoy generous benefits.

These include an industry-leading maternity/paternity package, medical, dental and life insurance, salary-sacrifice, electric car and cycle-to work schemes to encourage more eco-friendly commuting, flexible working hours and a generous defined contribution company pension scheme.

Additionally, Domainex has recently opened a new sales office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, demonstrating its continued commitment to international growth. Domainex anticipates that the King’s Award will lead to an even greater demand for its services as is often the effect observed by previous recipients.

The company gives back to the community when possible and has signed up to take part in a Welsh 3 Peaks challenge, later this year, to support Ty Hafan, an end-of life hospice for children.

A total of 30 members of staff are participating. Domainex also supports local charities such as Craftability, which provides a place for people with disabilities to go where they can spend time creating various crafts.