Vernalis is a pharmaceutical company with a strong focus on Structure Based Drug Design (SBDD). Protein Crystallography plays an important role in our research.
Diffraction data collection on crystals of protein targets soaked or co-crystallised with small molecule inhibitors is a key experimental step in the drug discovery process. It provides a perfect opportunity to provide our project teams with a very accurate 3D model of protein-ligand interactions. At Vernalis we give special attention to the preparation of our crystals prior to diffraction data collection. We plan the experiments ahead so they are more likely to result in accurate protein structures. Our motto is “know your crystals”. We try to characterise the crystals beforehand; optimise the cryoprotectants, find their symmetry, their resolution limits and how long they might survive in the intense synchrotron x-ray beam.
When this prior knowledge is combined with a seamless running beamline and excellent local support, we can maximise the number of datasets collected. At our recent trip in April 2014 we were able to collect 110 datasets in one 8 hour and half shift. Thank you PROXIMA team!
Lisa Baker and Allan Surgenor from Vernalis are collecting diffraction data on PROXIMA 1 beamline.