CRO

U.K. outfit bets on early-phase outsourcing

Cresset, a British provider of drug-discovery services, has faith in the market for early-phase work, and the company has expanded its staff and headquarters to prepare for an uptick in demand.

As more and more drugmakers trim their R&D budgets, they'll need help with library design, virtual screening and patent analysis in the discovery stage, Cresset CEO Rob Scoffin told Outsourcing-Pharma. And that's where the company and its software-based discovery platforms come in, Scoffin said.

Cresset's new headquarters are in Litlington, U.K., positioning the company in the heart of the Cambridge life sciences cluster, Scoffin said, giving it the space and neighborhood it needs to get the word out on its time- and money-saving early-phase offerings.

"Our recent growth has seen us strengthen our scientific consulting team, our technical group and our sales staff," Scoffin said in a statement. "This move represents an on-going investment in our people and our intention to continue to recruit the best scientific minds over the coming years."

Next month, Cresset will expand its existing software, adding lead-analysis capabilities that allow researchers to chart structural changes in target molecules, Scoffin told Outsourcing-Pharma.

- read the story
- check out Cresset's announcement

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