Pelago Bioscience announced the acquisition of RG Discovery, expanding its capabilities beyond target engagement and adding medicinal chemistry, custom synthesis, and integrated drug discovery expertise. The transaction creates a broader contract research organization platform designed to support customers throughout the full design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) cycle.
The combination brings together Pelago Bioscience’s biology-focused capabilities and proprietary Cellular Thermal Shift Assay (CETSA®)-based platform with RG Discovery’s chemistry expertise. The companies said the integrated offering will enable biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers to accelerate drug discovery programs by reducing workflow complexity and improving decision-making from hit identification through lead optimization.
Pelago Bioscience specializes in measuring drug-target interactions directly in living cells and tissues, providing insights into how compounds engage with their intended targets. Through the acquisition, data generated from these studies can be fed directly into RG Discovery’s compound design and synthesis processes, creating a continuous feedback loop between chemistry and biology.
Founded in 2011 by former AstraZeneca scientists, RG Discovery has established expertise in solving complex medicinal chemistry challenges for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The company employs about 40 scientists and operates from Medicon Village in Lund, Sweden, where it maintains chemistry and analytical infrastructure supporting a range of drug discovery activities. Its capabilities include medicinal chemistry, peptide chemistry, custom synthesis, ADME, bioanalysis, and related discovery services.
Pelago Bioscience said the combination strengthens its position as a specialized drug discovery partner by enabling customers to work with a single provider across multiple stages of the drug development process. The integrated platform is designed to eliminate vendor handoffs that can slow programs as they move from hit identification to lead optimization.
Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Pelago Bioscience focuses on target engagement and target validation using its proprietary CETSA® technology platform. The company said the acquisition enhances its ability to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies make informed decisions and progress drug discovery programs more efficiently.
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“Drug discovery increasingly requires seamless integration between chemistry and biology. By bringing RG Discovery into Pelago Bioscience, we can offer customers a single scientific partner capable of designing and synthesizing compounds, evaluating target engagement in living cells, and rapidly feeding those insights back into the next design cycle. This combination strengthens our ability to help customers progress programs faster and with greater confidence.”
Michael Dabrowski, Chief Executive Officer, Pelago Bioscience
“RG Discovery has always focused on helping customers solve difficult scientific problems through close collaboration and deep technical expertise. Joining forces with Pelago Bioscience allows us to expand that impact by combining world-class chemistry with world-class target engagement science. We are excited about the opportunities this creates for both our customers and our team.”
Johan Evenäs, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, RG Discovery
