Impact in Action

Redefining the Undruggable: Covalent Therapies Driving a New Era for Small Molecules

With advances in biopharmaceutical research and development, next-generation covalent drugs have emerged as a major focus across the industry. To date, more than 50 covalent drugs have been approved for clinical use, demonstrating substantial value across a broad range of therapeutic areas. Importantly, these next-generation therapies are advancing toward reversible covalent binding and targeting amino acid residues beyond cysteine, thereby opening new possibilities for addressing previously “undruggable” targets. Leveraging its fully integrated, end-to-end CRDMO enabling platform, WuXi AppTec provides global partners with comprehensive solutions for covalent drug discovery and development. This article highlights WuXi AppTec’s capabilities and strengths in enabling innovation in covalent drug discovery.

CRDMO: New Conjugates Are Expanding the Boundaries of Precision Medicine

As precision medicine continues to advance, the ability to efficiently and specifically deliver therapeutic agents to diseased tissues has become a critical focus in drug development. One promising strategy involves conjugating therapeutic payloads with ligands that can bind to specific proteins or receptors expressed in target tissues. This approach has demonstrated both safety and efficacy in clinical practice. In addition to monoclonal antibodies, small molecules, peptides, and oligonucleotides have also emerged as targeting ligands, enabling precise drug delivery. However, these conjugation strategies often come with significant synthetic complexity. WuXi AppTec’s deep expertise in chemistry has laid a strong foundation for the development of such next-generation therapies. Through its comprehensive WuXi TIDES platform, WuXi AppTec provides integrated solutions for complex conjugates. This article explores various conjugation strategies that enhance tissue-specific drug delivery and highlights how WuXi TIDES accelerates conjugates development through its integrated CRDMO platform.