Protein engineering at TargetEx is driven by cutting-edge technologies that enable the design, modification, and optimisation of proteins for diverse applications, including therapeutics, diagnostics, and industrial processes.

Our approach integrates rational design, allowing us to fine-tune protein characteristics such as stability, activity, specificity, and solubility. These methods are essential for developing tailored enzymes, therapeutic proteins, and biologics that meet the precise demands of our clients. Our engineering process begins with in silico design, incorporating computational tools to predict optimal mutations or structural alterations.

Recombinant DNA technology is a fundamental technique used to create expression vectors for producing various recombinant proteins, such as drug targets, biotherapeutics, and subunit vaccines.

We maximise protein expression levels in the chosen host organism by utilising codon optimisation during the design process. Our expertise includes a wide array of promoters, signal sequences, fusion tags, and identifier tags, which we strategically combine to meet the specific objectives of our clients.

Recovering a protein's active conformation post-expression is a significant challenge.

At TargetEx, we have years of expertise in handling "troublesome" proteins. The key to success is selecting the optimal expression system and designing the appropriate expression construct. Our state-of-the-art molecular biology laboratory is fully equipped for recombinant protein production, featuring bacterial and yeast expression systems and dedicated mammalian and insect cell culture labs to ensure high-quality results.

Protein purification is core expertise at TargetEx, where we have successfully purified a wide range of proteins for various applications, including R&D, X-ray or NMR studies, vaccines, biosimilars, diagnostic enzymes and in-house projects.

We offer purification services for both affinity-tagged and non-tagged native proteins, from small-scale to larger laboratory-scale expressions. Our purification process development, capable of producing up to 1 gram of protein, is designed to meet the highest quality standards and is scalable to meet any client demand. Additionally, we offer purification for both process- and product-related impurities.

Developing an effective downstream process can be time-consuming and resource-intensive due to the numerous optimisation steps involved.

At TargetEx, we accelerate this process by leveraging a wide range of bioinformatics tools to predict downstream behaviour before conducting lab experiments. This approach provides us with valuable insights on where to begin and how to efficiently separate the target protein from impurities, streamlining the entire process.

Computer-aided drug design (CADD) approaches complement the in vitro/in vivo biological screening technologies to facilitate the discovery process, reducing time and effort and increasing the success rate. Analysis of the biologically active chemical space and prediction of the pharmaceutically relevant properties enable efficient ligand-based –and protein-target-based virtual screening approaches. As a result of the virtual screening process, target-focused libraries are generated.