Newsletter - December 2024

Stéphanie Clouston
Jun 12
4 min read

Updated: Jun 17

NMX: Past, Present and Future

2024 marks NMX’s 10th year in business serving the biotech sector, providing quality biophysics services to help streamline your hit-to-lead projects. We would not be here without the continued trust and collaborative efforts from our valued clients – thank you for helping us reach this significant milestone!

NMX’s ongoing success relies on our diverse team of experts and streamlined biophysics platform, which pairs advanced NMR techniques along with orthogonal biophysical methods, curated libraries, biochemical assays, and virtual screens. We pride ourselves on being more than a CRO – we are your Contract Research Partner, working with our clients every step of the way.

We aim to help solve your most challenging problems during the hit-to-lead process, addressing common issues and pitfalls which often delay progress. Our team is adept at working within budget constraints, navigating tight timelines, and accommodating IP/privacy concerns, ensuring results are delivered with confidence, professionalism, and discretion. After personal consultations with our experts, experimental plans are customized to meet your specific project goals and answer essencial questions.

In addition to our client-based research services, NMX has continually maintained a network of numerous partnerships with collaborators across academia, government, hospitals, and industry. These partnerships are crucial in strengthening our shared research capabilities, providing invaluable access to expanded resources and expertise.

As we head into a new year, we look forward to progressing further with developments in our internal R&D efforts, as well as helping our clients – new and old – solve their drug discovery problems. In 2025, our network can keep an eye out for new methodologies, service offerings, collaborator announcements, and more!

Have a wonderful holiday season, and we will see you in the New Year 🎊

NMX will be out of office from December 23rd to January 3rd, 2025.

NMX Upcoming events _______________________________

SLAS2025 International Conference & Exhibition

The NMX team will be attending the SLAS2025 International Conference & Exhibition, taking place on January 25th-29th, 2025 in San Diego, CA.

The 2025 edition of SLAS is all about curiosity and innovation, concepts crucial in moving science forward. NMX is excited to support this initiative, coming together with other world-class researchers, startups, suppliers, and technology innovators!

🔎 Find us at Booth #2849 to discuss how NMX can help you reach your drug discovery goals. See you in San Diego!

Learn more about SLAS2025

_______________________________________________________ Press

Article in La Presse

NMX was featured in a recent portfolio by La Presse, discussing the role NMX plays in helping biotech and pharma companies in their early-stage drug discovery. Also highlighted are interdisciplinary collaborations between NMX and institutions like Harvard Medical School, noting the cutting-edge biotechnology being brought to Quebec via these ongoing partnerships.

Read the full article at La Presse (French Only)

Publications _________________________________________

ACS Pharmacology & Transitionnal Science

The latest NMX publication is now available in ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, exploring new combinations of drugs as potential broad-spectrum therapies against SARS-CoV-2 and other betacoronaviruses.

In this joint effort between NMX and collaborators at INRS-AFSB, rapid cell-based phenotypic screens were completed using HCoV-OC43 betacoronavirus (common cold) and small molecules drugs from regulatory libraries originally approved for other uses, aiming to identify any replication inhibitors. From the best singular inhibitors, checkerboard matrix assays were then implemented to identify synergistic drug combinations, which were later validated using SARS-CoV-2 and variants.

Science

A new publication in Science by Remix Therapeutics and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) at Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology uncovers how the spliceosome, a cellular complex removing non-coding RNA sections, influences gene expression. The biochemistry team at NMX provided technical assistance for this work by producing recombinant U1snRNP, acknowledged in this work by our collaborators at Remix.

Nature Reviews

A recent publication in Nature Reviews by Remix Therapeutics and the University of Wisconsin-Madison again looks at splice site modulators with a proposed binding mechanism for 5′SS modulation. Acknowledged by our collaborators at Remix, the NMX biochemistry team contributed by producing proteins for this project.

BSC Career Talk

NMX founder Steven LaPlante participated in a career talk webinar, hosted by the Biophysical Society of Canada on November 26th, 2024.

The panel was assembled with undergraduate and graduate students in mind, providing an opportunity for them to connect with various biophysicists and learn about different career paths available in the field.

Fondation Lucien-Piché Scholarship Ceremony

The NMX team sponsored the Fondation Lucien-Piché scholarship ceremony and were in attendance on November 22nd , 2024. Each year, the Fondation Lucien-Piché offers two to four $2,000 scholarships to students enrolled in their final year of an undergraduate chemistry program at a Quebec university. NMX is proud to have been a Gold Sponsor in 2024 – congratulations to this year’s students!

__________________________________________________________________________________

CERMO-FC Annual Symposium

NMX participated in the Annual Symposium of the Centre d’Excellence en Recherche sur les Maladies Orphelines – Fondation Courtois (CERMO-FC) as a sponsor on November 21st-22nd, 2024, at the UQAM Science Pavillion in downtown Montréal.

This event brought together over 200 researchers in biomedical and pharmaceutical research, aiming to share knowledge and ideas to combat complex and rare diseases by identifying novel targets for therapeutic approaches.

32nd Protein Structure Determination in Industry

Steven LaPlante presented at the 32nd Protein Structure Determination in Industry (PSDI) conference, which took place on November 10th-12th, 2024, in Paris, France.

Steven shared his personal experience of over three decades in the field of pharmaceutical research, with insights regarding the use of structural biology to guide drug discovery. Numerous case studies of various target proteins were presented, as understanding protein-ligand interactions is crucial for effective drug designing strategies.