Sigma-Aldrich today announced that its custom manufacturing and services business unit, SAFC, has signed an agreement with Seoul, South Korea-based CrystalGenomics to support the development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for next-generation non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID).

CrystalGenomics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that engages in the discovery and development of drugs based on structural chemoproteomics, a technology designed to accelerate drug discovery. The company is developing three clinical stage candidates. The lead program is a next-generation NSAID for osteoarthritis and is in phase 3 development. In addition to next-generation NSAID, the company is developing multiple novel candidates in various stages of development for various therapeutic areas with focus on inflammation, oncology, CNS and infection.

Per the agreement, CrystalGenomics will employ SAFC's Pharmorphix Pre-formulation Technology services which are based in Cambridge, UK, to enable understandings of the physical properties of APIs. The services can also aid in determining the selection of optimal crystallization processes, ensure batch-to-batch consistency in manufacturing and help to maintain efficacy and patient safety.