RxCelerate a power behind many drug development thrones
RxCelerate has grown from a Cambridge base in a heady ten years but its reach as an architect of drug development is truly global. The company’s 10th anniversary celebrations recently emphasised how far RxCelerate and its many clients have travelled in a dizzy decade.
The figures tell only part of the story but are nevertheless powerful: On launch in 2013 the company – founded by Dr Jill Reckless and Dr David Grainger – had three employees. Now it has more than 90.
Revenue in its first year of trading was £400k; now RxCelerate can point to an operating profit of more than £14 million in 2022.
Evidencing the continuing growth and thrust of the business, Dr Reckless and team were thrilled to have been recognised as one of the top 200 women-powered UK businesses in the third annual report, ‘Top 200 Women Powered Businesses’, by JP Morgan.
Not only was RxCelerate ranked 24 in the whole of the UK but also number one for East Anglia. Dr Reckless said: “It is a fabulous accolade for the company and all our people and we are so thrilled to figure and be recognised so highly in this transformative study.”
While RxCelerate has become increasingly well known throughout the international life sciences scene, it is worth going back to inform the future: RxCelerate is an outsourced drug discovery and development platform.
Its experienced leadership team will design and deliver on integrated programs to drive a client’s asset through drug discovery, preclinical research and beyond.
The company, which continues to grow from its mother ship at Babraham Research Campus, specialises in bespoke experimental design with data-rich endpoints; maximising a customer’s prospects of reaching the clinic.
Its boutique services are tailored to support client projects across a myriad of therapeutic areas from conception up to and including phase II clinical trials.
The business has grown from fairly modest but intellectually rich roots. Dr Reckless and Dr Grainger swiftly realised during their time working together at the University of Cambridge that a lack of access to appropriate resources and scientific support – particularly during the early stages of a project – represented a significant barrier to bringing potentially life-changing therapies to fruition. This sparked their passion to make a state-of-the-art drug discovery platform accessible to “anyone with a good idea.”
Scientific excellence is a cornerstone of the RxCelerate proposition. Over the last decade, the company has meticulously curated a specialist toolkit including the cutting-edge in silico technology RxNfinity™, the unparalleled proteomics platform ProQuant™ and the Galaxy® library that enables the generation of world-class biologics.
By assembling a complete suite of closely interacting scientific services (computational modelling, chemistry, in vitro and in vivo capabilities and project management) with exceptional leadership under one roof, RxCelerate has become a one-stop-shop for its clients who range from startups to large pharma.
Different strokes for different folks
ProsaRx is RxCelerate’s in silico modelling team, who use their expertise and ProtoDiscovery™ computational platform to facilitate small molecule design, screening and optimisation.
The expertise of the Chemistry team includes designing screening libraries, running NCE synthesis campaigns on a factory scale and bioanalysis by LC-MS/MS. RxCelerate laboratories are also GLP accredited, and studies can be performed in line with GxP requirements.
The Biology team at RxCelerate have extensive expertise in a wide range of laboratory techniques that enable them to offer a comprehensive suite of in vitro and ex vivo services to clients.
In-house in vivo capabilities managed by a highly experienced team enable the development of bespoke preclinical animal models across diverse therapeutic areas and the company is also licensed by the Human Tissue Authority to conduct research on human tissue.
Rx&D are the Programme Design and Management team of highly experienced project managers who expedite internal and external processes and ensure projects remain on time and on budget.
As part of the company’s commitment to providing clients with access to the most innovative technologies, RxCelerate invests in therapeutic and diagnostic assets and platform technologies that are transformational in their space via its investment arm ‘RxCapital’.
A great strength of RxCelerate is that its strong foundations enable a bespoke and flexible style of project delivery. Complex scientific questions are approached from first principles, using the extensive expertise of the company’s top tier scientific leaders.
A firm belief that projects should be led by the science underpins all work, and as such team members are able to quickly adapt and move with the data to maximise output while minimising cost.
A people-first culture is at the heart of RxCelerate, which invests in and values its employees. The ethos of enabling “anyone with a good idea” permeates throughout the organisation; staff are empowered to share their opinions and are actively involved in business development.
At the heart of this lies a senior management team who listen and care and by doing so have created an environment in which individuals can step outside of their comfort zone and reach their full potential.
In line with this, employee wellbeing is a priority. The company provides training and funding for multiple initiatives, committees and clubs to create a positive working environment.
To see current vacancies and learn more about RxCelerate visit https://www.rxcelerate.com