Mass spectrometry for pharma and biotech

OMass Technologies, a spinout from the University of Oxford’s Department of Chemistry, has used native mass spectrometry to conquer the challenge of deciphering the interactions of membrane proteins. This offers a new way to understand exactly how these important molecules respond to therapeutics and, in the process, speeds up the development of new drugs.

The company has raised £1 million from Oxford Sciences Innovation to launch the enabling technology platform and has established partnerships with international pharmaceutical and biotech companies to guide their drug discovery programs. OMass will also establish an independent state-of-the-art laboratory which will operate in synergy with the research groups at the University of Oxford.

OMass allows scientists to understand binding mechanisms of ‘classic’ small molecule therapeutic drugs, still the major focus for most pharmaceutical projects. At the same time, it will provide insights into how to design better biologics. It will also offer scientists the ability to interrogate more complex drug targets, including membrane proteins, without the need to ‘denature’ or destroy their 3D structure.

“Over 50% of approved drug targets are membrane proteins,” said Professor Dame Carol Robinson, a founder of OMass. “These proteins are notoriously challenging for structural studies. But the new mass spectrometry methods we are developing here at Oxford allow us to understand the structure of membrane proteins and how they are affected by small molecule binding in much more detail.

“This means we will be able to offer a new view for drug candidates. We’ll also be able to offer incredibly useful insights into how drugs interact within cells; for instance, how they interact with the lipid membrane and how individual lipids influence drug binding, all prior to any preclinical or clinical trials.”

“OMass will offer pharmaceutical and biotech companies the opportunity to access world-leading structural mass spectrometry technology, without having to set up sophisticated instrumentation and acquire expertise in-house,” added OMass CEO Dr Jonathan Hopper. “This provides new ways to study complex protein assemblies and their interactions with other biological molecules.”