Bridging biology & palatability: formulation taste assessment
Don’t let unpalatable formulations delay your clinical milestones. To overcome this challenge, rely on AXXSense, Axxam’s taste & olfaction biology platform, designed for the discovery and characterization of novel taste, olfactory, and chemosensory modulators.
AXXSense provides objective, cell-based taste assessment services to identify bitterness risks early in the pipeline, leveraging a ready-to-use platform covering all 26 human bitter taste receptors (hTAS2Rs) for precise, mechanism-based evaluation of your compounds. By enabling early prediction and quantification of bitterness and off-tastes at the molecular level, AXXSense supports informed formulation strategies and reduces the risk of late-stage reformulation, optimizing your path to a patient-ready product.
Why taste matters in drug development?
Palatability is a critical determinant of therapeutic success. Poor taste is often the deciding factor in whether a treatment succeeds or fails in real-world settings, directly impacting patient compliance and treatment outcomes.
The chemical structure of many therapeutic agents is inherently problematic for the human palate. Research indicates that approximately 66% of all current clinical and experimental drugs cataloged in DrugBank library are projected to possess a bitter taste. In particular, roughly 25% Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are classified as having an “intensely” or “very” bitter taste.
Early identification of bitterness and off-tastes enables proactive formulation strategies, reducing downstream risks. To address this challenge, AXXSense leverages proprietary cell-based biological platforms to quantify bitterness and off-tastes at the molecular level, accelerating drug development and providing actionable insights to ensure that your most promising molecules are also associated with favorable palatability profiles.
The AXXSense difference
Compared to traditional approaches based on limited evaluation of compounds through trained human sensory panel testing, AXXSense biological platforms transform taste assessment by combining sensory biology, automation, and high-throughput screening.
Cell-based approach
Cells express receptors that bind specific molecules called ligands, triggering intracellular signaling cascades that generate second messengers and activate downstream pathways. These processes produce measurable cellular responses, which can be quantified by automated instruments and reflect biological functions underlying phenomena such as taste and odor perception. Standardized biological assays ensure low and controlled variability.
High-throughput testing capacity
Automated robotic systems enable the screening of large compound libraries, accelerating decision-making early in development.
At Axxam, we offer a comprehensive range of small-molecule compound collections designed to support diverse drug discovery needs. Our portfolio includes both universal libraries, designed to provide broad, unbiased chemical diversity, and focused collections, specifically tailored to address targeted research objectives. Among our focused offerings is our proprietary natural products library. NatPure represents the largest collection of pure natural products available worldwide, comprising approximately 15,000 compounds derived from plant and microbial sources. This unique library serves as an exceptional resource for high-quality screening and innovative discovery programs.
Human validation at the final stage
No early reliance on human tasting panels enables broader exploration of compounds without safety concerns. Sensory panelists are involved only at the end, when the most promising candidates have already been identified.
By bridging the gap between sensory biology and formulation science, we turn the “problem” of bitterness into a manageable variable, ensuring that life-changing APIs actually reach the patients who need them.
Bitter receptor platform (hTAS2Rs)
Evolution has primed the human gustatory system to associate bitterness with toxicity; consequently, when a patient encounters a bitter API, their natural biological response is rejection. Humans have evolved 26 different bitter taste receptors (T2Rs) to detect these signals, making bitterness the most complex and sensitive of our basic tastes.
We offer a complete platform of all 26 human bitter taste receptors (hTAS2Rs) and key haplotypes. By expressing these receptors in specific recipient cell lines for functional analysis, we enable:
- Precise identification of receptor activation
- Mechanistic understanding of bitterness
- Targeted formulation strategies
Trigeminal receptor platform
True palatability involves more than just the five basic tastes; it encompasses the “mouthfeel” and somatosensory perception of a drug. Off-notes often include aversive physical sensations that can be just as detrimental to compliance as bitterness.
The AXXSense trigeminal platform is designed to characterize these sensations at the cellular level. We utilize a panel of specialized cell-based assays to detect the triggers responsible for:
- Thermal sensations (hot, spiciness)
- Cooling effects (menthol)
- Chemical irritation (tingling, pungency)
By evaluating these pathways, we ensure that your formulation is not only free of bitterness but also free of the “burning” or “stinging” sensations that frequently lead to dose refusal.
Stepwise workflow
The AXXSense platform applies a structured, stepwise workflow that efficiently evaluates drug candidates for bitterness and off-taste, ensuring early identification and actionable insights for formulation teams.
Benefits for drug development
By integrating AXXSense early in your pipeline, you can:
- Predict bitterness and off-taste early
- Guide formulation strategies for taste masking
- Minimize expensive late-stage reformulation cycles
- Enhance candidate selection based on a complete sensory profile
Related content
Integrated sensory biology solutions
AXXSense has a broader suite of sensory platforms designed to map the full spectrum of human perception:
- Olfactory platform: Identifying new fragrances and counteracting malodors.
- Taste profiling platforms: Specialized assays for sweet, umami, kokumi, salt, and fatty acid receptors.
Ectopic taste and olfactory receptors – ubiquitous chemosensation
Beyond taste: exploring the role of taste receptors across the human body and their implications for drug discovery