Event
Axxam at BIOSPAIN 2026 | Early Drug Discovery
Ciriaco Maraschiello
CEO
Katherina Orellana
Head
BD South Europe & Strategic Accounts
Axxam will attend BIOSPAIN 2026, taking place from 29 September to 1 October at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC).
BIOSPAIN is one of the leading biotechnology events in Europe. It brings together biotech and pharmaceutical companies, researchers, investors and other life science professionals. Therefore, the event provides an important setting to exchange ideas and explore new opportunities across the biotech ecosystem.
The 2026 programme will address innovation across health, bioeconomy, finance and policy. Health remains a central part of the event, with discussions covering emerging technologies and new approaches across biotechnology.
For Axxam, BIOSPAIN is an opportunity to connect with companies developing the next generation of medicines. It is also a chance to discuss how integrated early drug discovery can help turn promising biology into high-quality chemical starting points.
Connecting Biology with Drug Discovery
A promising therapeutic concept needs strong experimental evidence before it can progress. Therefore, understanding and validating the underlying biology is a critical part of early drug discovery.
Axxam supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies throughout this process. Our capabilities span target identification and validation, in vitro assay development and hit-to-lead discovery.
Our scientists combine expertise in molecular and cell biology, biochemistry and advanced cellular models. This allows us to investigate therapeutic targets and translate biological hypotheses into robust experimental systems.
From Hit Identification to Hit-to-Lead
Finding an active compound is only the beginning. Hits need to be confirmed and characterized before the most promising molecules can progress.
For this reason, Axxam combines primary screening with orthogonal and secondary assays. These approaches help confirm compound activity and provide additional information on selectivity and biological effects.
Moreover, our screening capabilities are supported by diverse compound collections. These include proprietary chemical libraries designed to provide broad chemical diversity for hit discovery.
Following hit identification, medicinal chemistry can be integrated with iterative design, synthesis and biological testing. This supports the progression and characterization of promising chemical series during hit-to-lead activities.
As a result, biology and chemistry remain closely connected throughout the early discovery process.
An Integrated Target-to-Lead Approach
Through DiscoveryMAXX, Axxam integrates biology, screening, chemistry and data within a coordinated discovery workflow.
The approach supports projects from target identification and wet-lab validation to assay development, hit discovery and hit-to-lead. However, every program is different. Therefore, the strategy can be adapted to the target, available biological knowledge and specific project objectives.
Axxam can also provide wet-lab validation for computational and AI-driven drug discovery approaches. For example, tailored biochemical and cellular assays can experimentally test predicted targets or compounds.
In this way, computational insights can be connected with experimental biology. This helps generate the evidence needed to guide decisions and move promising programs forward.
Meet Axxam at BIOSPAIN 2026
Ciriaco Maraschiello, CEO of Axxam and Katherina Orellana, our BD Head, will be at BIOSPAIN 2026 in Bilbao.
Partnering is an important part of the BIOSPAIN experience. Therefore, the event offers a valuable opportunity to discuss your research directly with our team.
Are you looking to validate a target, develop a new assay or identify and characterize novel hits? Meet our team at BIOSPAIN 2026 and discover how Axxam can support your early drug discovery program