Nuclera and leadXpro have entered a scientific partnership to develop an AI-guided end-to-end workflow aimed at accelerating structure-based drug design for complex membrane proteins.

The collaboration will combine Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery multiplex membrane protein screening technology with leadXpro’s artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven construct design, alongside its expertise in biophysical and structural characterisation.

Membrane proteins represent a significant proportion of approved drug targets but remain technically challenging to work with. They are often difficult to express and purify in sufficient quality and quantity for structural biology and biophysical studies, creating bottlenecks in drug discovery even when underlying disease biology is well understood.

Under the agreement, the partners will integrate in silico construct design with rapid experimental multiplex screening. The resulting workflow is intended to iteratively refine membrane protein constructs, linking computational prediction with laboratory validation to improve stability, expression levels and structural suitability.

Membrane protein constructs will be screened using Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery System. Selected variants will then undergo detailed biophysical characterisation and high-resolution cryo-EM structure determination led by leadXpro. Data generated from these studies will be fed back into AI/ML models to improve construct design and stability predictions.

The companies said the goal is to shorten timelines to critical structural and biophysical insights that underpin structure-based drug discovery programmes. The partnership is also expected to inform future integration of predictive AI/ML capabilities into Nuclera’s product portfolio and further strengthen leadXpro’s membrane protein platform.

Michael Chen, chief executive officer and co-founder of Nuclera, said: “Scientists are under pressure to progress increasingly complex membrane protein programs faster. By partnering with leadXpro, we can pair AI/ML-driven construct design with our rapid multiplex membrane protein screening to provide a truly ‘lab-in-loop’ workflow. This collaboration is an important step towards embedding AI/ML into Nuclera’s system so that researchers can go from sequence to high-value structural and functional insights in a fraction of the time currently required.”

Michael Hennig, chief executive officer of leadXpro, added: “Access to well-optimized membrane protein constructs is critical for producing high-quality proteins that enable biophysical and structural biology studies. Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery platform provides a robust, rapid, and reproducible approach to exploring construct space. Combined with our established AI/ML and structural biology expertise, this integration allows us to support better design decisions earlier and accelerate the progression of promising drug candidates.”

While the partnership centres on platform integration rather than a specific therapeutic programme, both companies position the collaboration as a way to address long-standing technical barriers in membrane protein drug discovery. By combining cell-free protein synthesis, multiplex screening, cryo-EM and AI-guided construct optimisation, the workflow is designed to de-risk early-stage structural studies and support downstream therapeutic development.