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Nuclera and leadXpro Partner to Accelerate Structure-Based Drug Design for Complex Membrane Proteins

Business Wire

Tue, February 17, 2026 at 6:18 PM GMT+9 2 min read

_Partnership will deliver AI-guided end-to-end workflow to access challenging membrane protein targets_

_To de-risk and shorten path to critical structural and biophysical insights that inform structure-based drug design_

CAMBRIDGE, England & BOSTON & VILLIGEN, Switzerland, February 17, 2026–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nuclera, the biotechnology company enabling rapid access to high-quality proteins and leadXpro, a specialist in structure-based drug discovery for membrane proteins, today announced a scientific partnership. The collaboration brings together eProtein Discovery’s™ rapid multiplex membrane protein screening with leadXpro’s AI/ML-driven construct design and membrane protein expertise to advance structural studies and therapeutic development.

Membrane proteins remain among the most valuable yet difficult to obtain drug targets. These proteins are notoriously challenging to express and purify in sufficient quantity and quality for structural biology and biophysical studies, limiting drug discovery programs even when promising biology is well understood.

Integrating eProtein Discovery’s Cell Free Protein Synthesis multiplex screening technology with leadXpro’s AI/ML and biophysical and structural characterization expertise, the partnership will establish an AI-guided, iterative, end-to-end workflow. The workflow will link in silico construct design with rapid, experimental multiplex screening to accelerate and de-risk challenging membrane protein programs, shortening the path to structural and biophysical insights for structure-based drug discovery.

Membrane protein constructs will be screened using Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery system with the most promising variants undergoing detailed biophysical characterization and high-resolution cryo-EM structure determination led by leadXpro. Insights from these studies will be integrated into AI/ML models for construct design and stability predictions, improving yields, functionality, and success rates. The partnership will also inform future integration of AI/ML capabilities into Nuclera’s product portfolio to embed predictive design into the eProtein Discovery System, and strengthen leadXpro’s platform in rapidly producing and characterizing difficult membrane protein targets.

Dr Michael Chen, CEO and co-founder, 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.”

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Dr Michael Hennig, CEO, leadXpro, commented: “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.”

For more information about Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery system, please visit:

For more information on leadXpro’s Technology Platform, please visit:

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Contacts

**Media contact: **
Dr Ben Rutter
Zyme Communications
Tel: +44(0)7920 770 935
Email: ben.rutter@zymecommunications.com

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