Event
Axxam at World Agri-Tech 2026 | Agrochemical Discovery
Katie Headland, Senior Director
Business Development UK
Where Chemical Biology Meets Drug Discovery: Axxam in Cambridge
Axxam will attend the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit 2026, taking place on 22–23 September at the InterContinental London – The O2.
Bringing together leaders from across the global agri-food ecosystem, the summit will explore how new technologies and scientific approaches can contribute to more productive, resilient and sustainable agriculture.
These challenges are also reshaping agrochemical discovery. Increasing pesticide resistance, evolving regulatory requirements and the need to reduce environmental impact are driving the search for safer crop protection solutions, novel biological targets and innovative mechanisms of action.
At Axxam, we support this search by combining advanced biology, custom assay development, high-throughput screening and early safety assessment to accelerate the discovery of next-generation crop protection agents.
From Novel Targets to New Crop Protection Agents
Identifying new agrochemicals starts with understanding the underlying biology and translating promising biological targets into robust experimental systems.
Axxam supports target identification and validation through molecular biology, genome editing, functional pharmacology and tailored cellular models. These capabilities help investigate target function and generate the biological evidence needed to guide early agrochemical discovery.
Our scientists then develop customized functional assays for both classical and emerging agrochemical targets, including challenging membrane proteins such as ion channels and GPCRs. These assays can be adapted to high-throughput formats and used in target-based screening campaigns to identify novel bioactive compounds.
When the biological target is not fully understood, phenotypic screening provides an alternative route to discovery. High-content screening, image-based profiling and multiparametric approaches can help uncover compounds with interesting biological activities and potentially reveal new mechanisms of action.
Exploring New Chemical and Biological Solutions
Axxam conducts high-throughput screening campaigns ranging from pilot studies to large-scale programs, combining advanced screening technologies with diverse compound collections.
Alongside proprietary synthetic small molecules and focused libraries, Axxam provides access to extensive natural product collections, microbial extracts, purified fractions and microbial strains.
These resources are particularly relevant to the growing search for biopesticides and biologically derived crop protection products, opening additional opportunities to identify bioactive compounds with novel mechanisms of action.
Early in vitro safety and toxicology profiling can also be integrated into discovery programs to support compound selection and identify potential liabilities at an earlier stage.
By bringing these capabilities together, Axxam supports agrochemical research from target identification and validation through assay development, screening, hit identification and early safety assessment.
Discover Axxam at World agri-tech innovation summit
If you are attending the summit and working on crop protection, agrochemical discovery, biologicals or biopesticides, connect with Katie to discuss how Axxam’s discovery platforms and scientific expertise can support your research.
Looking for new ways to accelerate your crop protection discovery program? Contact us to arrange a meeting in London.