The University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit

What The University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit does

The University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) is an academic, fully integrated small-molecule drug discovery organisation embedded within the University of Dundee's School of Life Sciences in Scotland. Founded in 2006 by Professor Sir Mike Ferguson and Professor Alan Fairlamb, the DDU operates a virtual biotech-style model that takes validated biological targets through hit discovery, compound management (350,000+ compound library), bioinformatics, molecular interactions/structural biology (with synchrotron access at Diamond and ESRF), computational drug design (including ML predictive models), medicinal chemistry, and DMPK to clinical candidate nomination. Its pipeline is structured around two programmes: an Anti-Infectives portfolio covering kinetoplastids (leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, sleeping sickness), apicomplexans (malaria, cryptosporidiosis), tuberculosis, and coronaviruses; and an Innovative Targets portfolio addressing cancer (NMT and WRN helicase inhibitors), neurodegeneration (tau pathology with Takeda, USP8 for Parkinson's with Bukwang), and contraception (Gates-funded non-hormonal programme). The unit has produced 4 clinical-stage compounds (notably M5717 licensed to Merck KGaA demonstrating single-dose malaria cure, and PCLX-001/Zelenirstat licensed to Pacylex in Phase 2 with FDA Fast Track for AML), 9 licensed assets, and 6 spin-out companies including Exscientia.

The DDU is funded through a hybrid academic model rather than commercial product sales. Primary inflows are research grants and charitable funding from Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UKRI/MRC, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Innovate UK, and the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator; cumulative funding exceeds $142.6M over ~12 years. Industry partnerships with GSK (VL/Chagas joint team since 2011), Takeda, Novartis, Merck KGaA, Pfizer, Bukwang, Beactica, and others provide collaborative research revenue, milestone payments, and licensing economics. Output is monetised through three channels: licensing preclinical assets to pharma, enabling spin-out companies (Pacylex, IOmet acquired by Merck & Co., HepaRegeniX, Exscientia, Corbin, Sitala Bio), and participation in product development partnerships (DNDi, MMV). Go-to-market is sales-led and partnership-driven, targeting enterprise pharma/biotech, academic collaborators, medical charities, and PDPs; the unit does not sell products directly. Leadership transitioned in 2022 with Professor Ian Gilbert appointed Head of DDU following Professor Paul Wyatt's departure, and Professor Mike Bodkin hired to head a new Computational Drug Discovery function.

Name

The University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit

Legal name

University of Dundee

Website

https://drugdiscovery.dundee.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit is an academic, fully integrated small-molecule drug discovery engine within the University of Dundee that translates biological research into clinical candidates for anti-infectives, cancer, neurodegeneration, and contraception, funded by grants and monetised through pharma licensing, industry partnerships, and spin-outs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drug Discovery Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Global Health Research, Clinical Trials & Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) (HLAJAOAM)

Keywords

• Drug discovery services
• Neglected tropical diseases
• Small molecule therapeutics
• Anti-infectives research
• Preclinical drug development

Headquarters

HQ city

Dundee

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Charitable Funding: DDU secures funding from research grants and charitable organisations including Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Medicines for Malaria Venture to conduct drug discovery research. Over $142.6m secured over 12 years from research grant/charitable funders and industry partnerships.
2. Licensing and Asset Sales: DDU develops assets to a certain stage then licenses to BioPharma or spin-out biotech companies. Assets have been licensed enabling creation of spin-out companies including Pacylex Pharmaceuticals, IOmet Pharma (acquired by Merck & Co.), and HepaRegeniX GmbH. Nine assets licensed to pharmaceutical companies.
3. Industry Partnerships and Collaborations: Collaborative research agreements with pharmaceutical companies including GSK, Pfizer, Takeda, Novartis, and others where DDU provides drug discovery services and expertise in exchange for funding and milestone payments.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The DDU provides fully integrated small-molecule drug discovery services spanning hit identification through preclinical candidate nomination. It applies these capabilities to two main research portfolios: an Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery portfolio (Kinetoplastids such as leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, Apicomplexans including malaria and cryptosporidiosis, Tuberculosis, and COVID-19) and an Innovative Targets Portfolio (oncology, neurodegeneration such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and contraception). The unit generates outcomes through licensing preclinical assets to pharmaceutical companies, forming spin-out companies, and conducting collaborative research with industry and academic partners.

Product overview

The University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit is an academic drug discovery organization (not a software product company) that operates as a fully integrated drug discovery engine. The DDU provides research services across the drug discovery pipeline through distinct capability areas: Hit Discovery, Compound Management, Bioinformatics, Molecular Interactions (Structural Biology), Computational Drug Design, Medicinal Chemistry, and Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics (DMPK). These capabilities are applied to two main research programs: the Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery Portfolio (covering Kinetoplastids such as leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, Apicomplexans including malaria, Tuberculosis, and COVID-19) and the Innovative Targets Portfolio (targeting cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and other therapeutic areas). The DDU also operates a Training Academy to build drug discovery capacity, particularly in disease-endemic countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery Portfolio Small-molecule drug discovery portfolio targeting infectious diseases of global health importance. The portfolio covers four main programmes: Kinetoplastids (visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, Human African trypanosomiasis/sleeping sickness), Apicomplexans (malaria, cryptosporidiosis), Tuberculosis, and COVID-19. The portfolio has produced four compounds in clinical development including the malaria compound DDD107498 (M5717) and two visceral leishmaniasis candidates (GSK3186899/DDD853651 and a second VL candidate).
• Innovative Targets Portfolio Drug discovery portfolio targeting novel therapeutic targets in cancer (NMT inhibitors for leukaemia and lymphoma, WRN helicase inhibitors for MSI+ tumours, pro-senescence therapies), neurodegeneration (tau pathology for Alzheimer's disease in partnership with Takeda, USP8 inhibitors for Parkinson's disease with Bukwang Pharmaceutical and Oxford), and contraception (non-hormonal contraceptives funded by the Gates Foundation). Licensed assets include PCLX-001/Zelenirstat (now in Phase 2 trials with FDA Fast Track Designation for AML) and USP15 assets licensed to Corbin Therapeutics.
• Drug Discovery Services - Hit Discovery Hit discovery service offering a comprehensive range of liquid handling and detector technologies including nanoliter dispensing, protein and cell-based screening, high content imaging, and fragment-based screening (SPR, NMD, Octet RED384). Industry-standard data management using ActivityBase and Dotmatics platforms. Available to pharma, biotech, and academic partners as part of collaborative drug discovery programmes.
• Drug Discovery Services - Compound Management Compound management service with state-of-the-art equipment for plating and storage, delivering compound sets in 96, 384, and 1536 well plate formats. Manages and curates multiple compound libraries totalling over 350,000 compounds for use across DDU and partner programmes.
• Drug Discovery Services - Molecular Interactions (Structural Biology) Molecular interactions and structural biology service covering cloning, expression, and purification of protein targets using E.coli, Pichia pastoris, Baculovirus, and Expi293 mammalian expression systems. Capabilities include SPR for hit validation and enzyme kinetics, all aspects of protein crystallography, 3D structure determination of protein-ligand complexes, and access to synchrotron radiation sources at Diamond (UK) and ESRF (Europe).
• Drug Discovery Services - Computational Drug Design

Quantifiable outcome

• 4 compounds in clinical development
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered major, notable and core.

• END2AMR ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025European Novel Drug Research to Address Microbial Infections and Drug Resistance; 5-year public-private initiative; DDU as Scientific Project Lead; 12 partners including Lygature (Coordinator), GSK (Industry Lead), Obulytix, University of Copenhagen, CEA, Quadram Institute, Francis Crick Institute, University of Manchester, Affilogic, University of Liverpool, TB Alliance; funded by IHI JU.
• Beactica Therapeutics ABnotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Swedish drug discovery company; collaboration on inhibiting WRN helicase for MSI+ cancers; leverages Beactica's allosteric binder expertise and PROTAC evaluation with Dundee's facilities.
• CARE Consortium (Corona Accelerated R&D in Europe)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020€77.7M pan-European consortium (IMI funded) with 37 partners; DDU is only UK academic member alongside University of Edinburgh; Dundee working on antiviral drug development for COVID-19 and future coronaviruses.
• NovartisnotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with DDU to discover new drugs for malaria and future viral pandemics; announced October 2024.
• TakedamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership to develop treatments for tau pathology underlying Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases; renewed in 2024 for continued dementia research; working with Cambridge and MRC LMB on seeded misfolding of tau.
• Bukwang Pharmaceutical CompanymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Multi-million-pound partnership for Parkinson's disease drug development; works with Dundee and Oxford to advance USP8 inhibitors for alpha-synuclein pathology; three-year programme with option for worldwide rights.
• Corbin TherapeuticsnotableOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2019Montreal-based biotech; licensed DDU USP15 assets for neuroinflammation disorders including multiple sclerosis; builds on existing partnership with MRC support; USP15 identified as key in neuroinflammation pathogenesis.
• DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Partnership on VL drug development; DNDi project of the year award 2024 for DNDI-6899; formal agreement with GSK and DDU for preclinical development of VL drug candidates; DNDi called DDU's achievement outstanding for academic drug discovery.
• Pacylex PharmaceuticalsnotableOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2017Canadian spinout from University of Alberta; licensed NMT-inhibiting compounds (DDD86481) for cancer; PCLX-001 (Zelenirstat) received FDA Fast Track Designation for AML; now in Phase 2 trials.
• GSK (GlaxoSmithKline)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Major collaboration since 2011 on neglected diseases including visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease; joint research team of >40 scientists; two VL clinical candidates in Phase 1; collaboration valued at £7.9M+ from Wellcome.
• Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduct development partnership collaborating on malaria drug discovery since 2009; partnered with DDU to identify treatments through phenotypic screening; MMV Project of the Year awards 2014 and 2018.
• University of DundeecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent institution providing institutional support, School of Life Sciences facilities (30,000 sqft), and home to WCAIR; committed to translation of academic research for public gain.
• ExscientianotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Dundee AI-driven drug discovery spinout (valued at £2.5B); also member of CARE consortium working closely with DDU on coronavirus research.
• University of AlbertanotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dr Luc Berthiaume who identified NMT2 loss prevalence in leukaemias/lymphomas; enabled repositioning of DDD86481 from sleeping sickness to cancer.
• University of CambridgemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dr Will McEwan at UK Dementia Research Institute on tau pathology; part of partnership with Takeda for Alzheimer's disease drug development.
• MRC Laboratory of Molecular BiologynotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dr Leo James on tau pathology research; part of tau drug discovery programme with Takeda.
• Sitala Bio LtdnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany where former DDU Head Paul Wyatt joined after leaving Dundee in 2022.
• Gr-ADI (Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery Innovator)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst-of-its-kind consortium where multiple funders and research teams share data openly and work collectively to accelerate antibiotic discovery; DDU awarded funding as part of this initiative.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Exscientia: AI-driven drug discovery company originally spun out from the University of Dundee ecosystem with DDU connections. Directly comparable as a Dundee-affiliated drug discovery organisation, but operating as a fully private AI-native platform rather than an academic unit.
• Pacylex Pharmaceuticals: Canadian spin-out that licensed DDU's NMT-inhibiting compound DDD86481 (now PCLX-001/Zelenirstat) for cancer; currently in Phase 2 trials with FDA Fast Track Designation for AML. Directly comparable as a downstream licensee of DDU IP and exemplar of the DDU spin-out model.

Direct peers

• LifeArc: UK-based self-funded medical research charity that translates early science into therapeutic opportunities, with capabilities spanning antibody engineering, small molecule drug discovery, and diagnostics. Directly comparable to DDU as a UK translational drug discovery organisation that bridges academic research and commercial development.
• Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): International non-profit research and development organisation working to deliver new treatments for neglected diseases including leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness. DNDi is a core DDU partner and awarded DDU's VL programme as its Project of the Year 2024.
• The Scripps Research Institute: Major US biomedical research institute with extensive small molecule drug discovery programmes. Comparable to the University of Dundee DDU as a leading academic drug discovery organisation with integrated medicinal chemistry and biology capabilities.
• Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV): Product development partnership dedicated to discovering, developing and delivering new antimalarial medicines. DDU's core anti-infectives partner and recipient of MMV Project of the Year awards in 2014 and 2018; comparable as a global health PDP focused on drug discovery in malaria and related indications.
• Calibr (Scripps Research Translational Institute): Translational drug discovery arm of The Scripps Research Institute operating an academic-industry hybrid model with integrated small molecule and biologics discovery capabilities. Functionally comparable to DDU as a leading academic drug discovery engine in a non-academic governance framework.

Broad incumbents

• WuXi AppTec: Global CRO/CDMO offering comprehensive drug discovery and development services including medicinal chemistry, DMPK, and biologics. Comparable as a broad incumbent in outsourced drug discovery, though operating at significantly greater scale than DDU.
• Charles River Laboratories: Major contract research organisation providing integrated drug discovery and early-stage development services. Comparable as a commercial provider of the same integrated discovery capabilities that DDU offers in an academic setting.
• Evotec SE: Global drug discovery CRO and alliance company offering fully integrated small molecule and biologics discovery services. Comparable as a broader commercial counterpart to DDU's integrated academic platform, with a much larger operational footprint and similar end-to-end capabilities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/drug-discovery-unit-university-of-dundee

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit