Event
RSC Chemical Biology Meets Drug Discovery in Cambridge
Katie Headland, Senior Director
Business Development UK
Where Chemical Biology Meets Drug Discovery: Axxam in Cambridge
Axxam will attend Chemical Biology Meets Drug Discovery 2026, taking place on 14–15 September at AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre (The DISC) in Cambridge, UK.
Organized by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemical Biology and Bio-Organic Group, the two-day meeting brings together scientists from academia and industry to explore the application of chemical biology tools and techniques to drug discovery.
This intersection between chemistry and biology is also fundamental to the way Axxam approaches early drug discovery: understanding biological mechanisms, translating them into robust experimental systems, and using chemical matter to investigate and modulate targets and pathways.
From Biological Questions to Bioactive Molecules
Chemical biology provides powerful approaches to investigate the function of biological targets and pathways and understand how their modulation can influence disease-relevant mechanisms. Translating these insights into drug discovery, however, requires experimental strategies capable of generating reliable and actionable data.
At Axxam, we combine deep biological expertise with technologies spanning molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, assay development and compound screening.
Our capabilities support different stages of the discovery process, from target investigation and validation to developing fit-for-purpose biochemical and cell-based assays. High-throughput and high-content screening can then be used to identify bioactive compounds, followed by secondary assays to confirm activity, evaluate selectivity and investigate mechanism of action.
This integrated approach allows biological hypotheses and chemical matter to be evaluated together, helping researchers build stronger evidence around both the target and the molecules designed to modulate it.
Connecting Biology, Screening and Chemistry
Axxam’s early drug discovery capabilities cover the progression from target to lead.
Depending on the scientific question and target class, our teams can apply genome editing, gene expression analysis, RNA biology, recombinant protein production, biochemical and cellular assays, high-content imaging, electrophysiology and other advanced in vitro technologies to investigate target function and establish robust screening systems.
These biological platforms can be integrated with high-throughput screening, compound profiling, orthogonal and selectivity assays, mechanism-of-action studies and medicinal chemistry to identify and characterize high-quality hits and support their progression toward optimized leads.
Through Axxam’s integrated DiscoveryMAXX model, biology, screening, chemistry and data are brought together within a coordinated target-to-lead workflow, supporting informed decisions throughout early discovery.
Meet Axxam at Chemical Biology Meets Drug Discovery 2026
Katie Headland, our BD Vice President, will represent Axxam in Cambridge.
The meeting will be an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas with scientists working across chemical biology and drug discovery and to discuss how different experimental approaches can help address challenging targets, validate biological hypotheses and identify new bioactive molecules.
If you are attending Chemical Biology Meets Drug Discovery 2026 and would like to explore how Axxam’s capabilities could support your research, connect with Katie in Cambridge.