For almost a decade, Momentum has been offering clients a wide range of early drug discovery services including high-throughput screening, hit characterization and hit-to-lead development. Momentum uses mass spectrometry-based approaches for label-free functional assays as well as covalent and non-covalent binding assays against protein and RNA targets. "With the addition of our proteomics capabilities, we will be able to continue interrogating chemistry identified from in vitroexperiments in cellular and downstream assays," said Can Ozbal, Ph.D. CEO of Momentum. "Proteomics is the latest milestone in our quest to streamline the ability of our clients to develop the next generation of pharmaceuticals."

One example of the extension of services enabled by proteomics is in irreversible covalent binding studies. Momentum has been offering a high-throughput intact mass shift assay to identify electrophilic test compounds that bind protein targets for several years. "We can now help our clients characterize the binding site of the covalent adduct by doing peptide mapping," said Peter Rye, Ph.D., Vice President of Application Development and head of the proteomics team. "We can further characterize those test compounds in cellular assays showing on and off target binding in vivo".

Momentum's new proteomics service offerings go beyond chemo-proteomics and covalently modified targets and include protein identification, sequencing, expression differences between groups, and interaction with other proteins. "Our customers are excited about these new capabilities and are looking forward to additional offerings we're planning for next year," Ozbal said.