Celtarys Research

What Celtarys Research does

Celtarys Research is a privately-held Spanish biotech startup headquartered in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, that develops and commercializes fluorescent chemical tools as non-radioactive alternatives for drug discovery screening. Founded circa 2020–2021 and operating with 1–10 employees, the company focuses on G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets and E3 ligases — the latter supporting the PROTAC / targeted protein degradation space. Its proprietary platform synthesizes tailor-suited fluorescent ligands using environment-respectful, convergent synthetic chemistry, producing probes characterized as potent (<100 nM affinity) and selective (>100-fold) with stable fluorophores compatible with fluorescence polarization, HTRF/TR-FRET, high-content screening, flow cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy readouts.

The product portfolio spans catalog fluorescent ligands (covering adenosine, adrenergic, angiotensin, cannabinoid, dopamine, muscarinic, oxytocin, serotonin and other GPCR families; sigma intracellular receptors; and E3 ligases VHL/CRBN), ready-to-use E3 ligase assay kits, biotinylated ligands, and GTPγS functional assay reagents. Pricing is quote-based with unit prices around €476 per 10 µg vial for standard products. The company complements catalog sales with CRO services for custom ligand development and binding-assay screening (CB2R, CRBN, VHL), and validates its reagents through co-marketed application notes with major instrument vendors including Nanotemper, BMG Labtech, PerkinElmer, and Leica microscopy systems.

Revenue mechanics are distributed across catalog e-commerce sales (contact-to-buy), CRO custom development contracts (multi-year), and non-dilutive grant funding (notably a €416K CDTI NEOTEC grant in 2023 and the €650K 2021 seed round from XesGalicia and Vigo Activo). Target customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug discovery groups, academic research institutions, and CRO/platform companies. The company is recognized as an Innovative SME by Spanish authorities and has received multiple regional (GAIN, IGAPE), national (CDTI), and European (WomenTechEU) innovation grants.

Name

Celtarys Research

Legal name

Celtarys Research

Website

https://celtarys.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Celtarys Research is a Spanish biotech startup (Santiago de Compostela) developing proprietary fluorescent ligand probes as non-radioactive alternatives for drug discovery screening, serving pharma, biotech, and academic customers working on GPCR and E3 ligase targets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drug Discovery Reagents

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Medicinal Chemicals & Botanical Products (2833)

akta.pro primary industry

Drug Discovery (Target ID/Validation & Hit Discovery) (HLAIALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Preclinical CROs (Discovery/Pharmacology/DMPK) (HLAGAAAB), Library & Diversity Generation Platforms (display libraries, DNA-encoded libraries for biologics, variant libraries) (HLAAAIAL)

Keywords

• Fluorescent ligands
• Drug discovery reagents
• GPCR assays
• E3 ligase screening
• Fluorescence polarization

Headquarters

HQ city

Santiago De Compostela

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Fluorescent Ligand Products: Sale of fluorescent ligand products including GPCR fluorescent ligands, E3 ligase ligands, and related reagents. Products are sold as research-use-only chemicals in vial formats (typically 10 µg vials) for competitive binding assays.
2. CRO Screening Services: Contract research organization services including custom development and screening services for specific receptor targets (CB2R, CRBN, VHL binding assays).
3. Ready-to-Use Assay Kits: E3 ligase kits (VHL and CRBN) providing pharmacologically validated fluorescent ligands in optimized assay-ready formats for high-throughput screening.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Celtarys Research develops and commercializes proprietary fluorescent chemical ligands and ready-to-use assay kits as safer alternatives to radioactive methods in drug discovery. Its portfolio targets GPCRs, E3 ligases (VHL, CRBN), and intracellular receptors, supported by custom development and CRO screening services for pharma, biotech, and academic customers.

Product overview

Celtarys Research is a biotech company that develops and commercializes innovative fluorescent chemical tools for drug discovery. The product portfolio consists of three core product categories: (1) Fluorescent Ligands including GPCR fluorescent ligands for adenosine, adrenergic, angiotensin, cannabinoid, dopamine, GLP1, muscarinic, oxytocin, and serotonin receptors, E3 ligase ligands for PROTAC applications, and intracellular receptor ligands for sigma receptors; (2) Ready-to-Use assay kits including E3 ligase screening kits for VHL and CRBN; and (3) Biotinylated Ligands for target binding studies. The offering is complemented by CRO Services for custom development of fluorescent ligands and screening services (CB2R, CRBN, VHL binding assays). The company's proprietary technology enables synthesis of tailor-suited fluorescent ligands with high affinity (<100 nM), selectivity (>100x), and stable fluorophores for applications from competitive binding assays to microscopy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fluorescent Ligands Proprietary fluorescent chemical tools sold as research-use-only chemicals in vial formats (typically 10-50 µg vials) for competitive binding assays across multiple therapeutic target families. Designed as alternatives to radioactive methods in drug discovery.
• GPCR Fluorescent Ligands Comprehensive portfolio of fluorescent ligands targeting G protein-coupled receptors including adenosine, adrenergic, angiotensin, cannabinoid, dopamine, GLP1, muscarinic, oxytocin, and serotonin receptor families. Ligands are potent (<100 nM) and selective (>100 times).
• E3 Ligase Ligands Fluorescent ligands targeting E3 ubiquitin ligases including VHL and CRBN for use in targeted protein degradation and PROTAC screening programs.
• Intracellular Receptors Ligands Fluorescent ligands for sigma receptors (σ1 and σ2) and other intracellular receptors used in receptor pharmacology studies.
• GPCR Functional Assay Products Fluorescent GTPγS products for measuring functional activity of GPCR modulators in agonist and antagonist modes (priced at €219-€525 for 50 µg vials).
• Ready-to-Use Assay Kits Pre-formulated assay kits for specific target families including E3 ligase kits (VHL and CRBN), providing pharmacologically validated fluorescent ligands, optimized assay-ready formats, and established fluorescence polarization assay protocols for PROTAC screening.
• Biotinylated Ligands Biotin-labeled ligand products for target binding studies, including GPCR biotinylated ligands used in competitive binding and pull-down assays.
• Custom Development Service Tailored fluorescent ligand development services for specific druggable targets using proprietary chemistry technology and environment-respectful, convergent synthetic methodologies.
• Screening Services High-throughput screening services for CB2R, CRBN, and VHL binding assays using fluorescent-based detection methods, available as individual assay services.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ligands demonstrate potency below 100 nM with selectivity over 100 times for target receptors.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of Tartu (Prof. Ago Rinken, GPCR Workgroup)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration with the GPCR Workgroup at the Institute of Chemistry in University of Tartu for fluorescent ligand development and validation.
• ONCOMET (Health Research Institute Santiago de Compostela)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dr. Miguel Abal's group at ONCOMET for oncology research applications of fluorescent ligands.
• University of Barcelona (Dr. Gemma Brugal, Molecular Neuropharmacology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration for neuropharmacology research using fluorescent ligands to study receptor targets.
• University of Bari Aldo Moro (Dr. Marialessandra Contino, Department of Pharmacy)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration for fluorescent ligand development and pharmacology research.
• NasasBiotechminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with biotech company focused on drug discovery research applications.
• EU-OpenScreenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean research infrastructure collaboration for open access screening services.
• InnopharmaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlatform collaboration for drug discovery research tools and services.
• NanotempercoreTechnology or IntegrationApplication note collaboration combining Celtarys Adenosine A2A fluorescent ligand CELT-300 with Nanotemper Monolith X platform for competitive binding assays with unpurified GPCR.
• BMG LabtechcoreTechnology or IntegrationApplication note collaboration on TR-FRET assay combining PHERAstar FSX microplate reader with CELT-335 fluorescent ligand for cannabinoid receptor binding affinity measurements.
• Twist BiosciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCase study collaboration developing two new fluorescent ligands for C5aR target following demand from US-based biotech company for fluorescence-based assays.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Abcam: Abcam supplies research-grade antibodies, fluorescent reagents, and assay tools for life science research, including labeled ligands for receptor studies. It is an emerging peer with overlapping product categories but historically stronger in antibody reagents than fluorescent ligand chemistry.

Broad incumbents

• PerkinElmer (Revvity): Revvity (formerly PerkinElmer) provides HTRF and other fluorescence-based detection platforms and reagents for drug discovery. It is comparable to Celtarys because Celtarys' ligands are validated on PerkinElmer instruments, and the two together define the HTS fluorescence workflow.
• Bio-Techne (R&D Systems): Bio-Techne is a large life science tools company encompassing R&D Systems, Tocris, and ProteinSimple, offering reagents, antibodies, and assay kits across drug discovery. It is a broad incumbent peer because its Tocris division directly competes with Celtarys while the parent offers far broader catalog scale.
• Eurofins Scientific: Eurofins is a global CRO providing drug discovery and bioanalytical services including receptor binding assays. It overlaps with Celtarys' CRO services and assay development offerings, though Eurofins operates at significantly larger scale with global laboratory infrastructure.
• Promega: Promega manufactures fluorescence-based reagents and assay systems for drug discovery, including binding and reporter assays compatible with HTS. It is comparable to Celtarys as a fluorescence assay tool vendor, though Promega operates at much larger scale with broader assay portfolios.
• Sigma-Aldrich (Merck KGaA / MilliporeSigma): MilliporeSigma supplies an extensive catalog of fluorescent probes, ligands, and screening reagents used across pharma and academic drug discovery. It is a broad incumbent peer because any fluorescent ligand in the market competes against the depth and distribution of the Sigma catalog.

Direct peers

• Tocris Bioscience (Bio-Techne): Tocris is a leading supplier of fluorescent ligands, GPCR tool compounds, and biochemical reagents for drug discovery. It is the closest direct peer to Celtarys because both companies sell catalog fluorescent ligands and binding assay reagents to pharma and academic screening groups, with overlapping GPCR target coverage.
• Hello Bio: Hello Bio sells fluorescent ligands and GPCR tool compounds for life science research, including labeled receptor ligands for binding assays. It directly competes with Celtarys in the catalog fluorescent ligand niche targeting academic and industrial pharmacology labs.
• Cayman Chemical: Cayman Chemical is a major supplier of biochemical research reagents including fluorescent probes and ligands for GPCR, E3 ligase, and receptor pharmacology research. It is a direct peer given overlapping catalog reagent offerings and shared customer base in pharma and academic drug discovery.

Regional players

• Eurofins Discovery: Eurofins Discovery provides preclinical drug discovery CRO services, including receptor binding and screening assays, across EU and US sites. It is comparable to Celtarys' CRO services but operates at much larger CRO scale with deeper pharma relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Celtarys Research