Industry case: Sprint Bioscience uses SciLifeLab infrastructure to accelerate early cancer drug development

With a focus on speed, precision, and early innovation, Sprint Bioscience is developing small-molecule therapies for cancer. By partnering with SciLifeLab’s Drug Discovery and Development (DDD) Platform, the Stockholm-based biotech company is streamlining protein quality control to accelerate their fragment-based drug discovery process. In the competitive landscape of pharmaceutical innovation, accelerating the drug development process is more critical than ever.

Sprint Bioscience specializes in fragment-based drug discovery to generate preclinical oncology assets for out-licensing. Their model relies on tight timelines and seamless internal workflows, making quick access to external high-quality infrastructure a critical success factor. This agility not only enhances efficiency, but ultimately accelerates the delivery of potential therapies to patients in need.

“To live up to our name, we must be fast. That’s part of our identity as a company. When we need to confirm that a newly purified protein batch is correct and consistent, we can’t afford to wait. That’s where SciLifeLab has been invaluable,” says Camilla Silvander, Director of Protein Science at Sprint Bioscience.

The collaboration with SciLifeLab’s Drug Discovery and Development (DDD) Platform began during the pandemic, following a seminar on intact mass determination led by SciLifeLab researcher Jimmy Ytterberg. At the time, the method, used to verify the identity and integrity of purified proteins, was not widely accessible in Sweden. Recognizing the need for robust protein validation in their structural biology pipeline, Sprint Bioscience initiated contact with the Uppsala-based DDD team.

“We use intact mass analysis to confirm that our protein batches are correct before we invest resources in downstream applications like crystallography or biophysical screening,” says Silvander. “It ensures we’re working with the right materials from the start, saving time and preventing avoidable setbacks.”

The rapid turnaround offered by SciLifeLab DDD proved a perfect fit. “We often get results within a day or two, which is essential for our workflow. Our internal teams are tightly integrated, and projects evolve quickly. When a new partner or direction comes in, we need to pivot fast,” says Silvander.

From SciLifeLab’s perspective, the collaboration also had a catalyzing effect.

“This was one of the early industrial use cases that confirmed there was real demand for intact mass determination using high-resolution mass spectrometry,” says Pawel Baranczewski, Head of the ADME of Therapeutics (ADMEoT) unit at DDD platform. “Thanks to Sprint Bioscience, we further developed and refined this service, which is now offered routinely to our academic users and when resources and instrument time is available, also to industrial users as a full cost service.”

“the most important part is knowing we have reliable expertise and instrumentation we can turn to when we need to move quickly”

The collaboration also highlights the value of co-location and accessible national infrastructure. “Being geographically close helps, especially when we’re shipping sensitive samples on dry ice,” says Silvander. “But the most important part is knowing we have reliable expertise and instrumentation we can turn to when we need to move quickly.”

The ability to access cutting-edge technologies without the burden of significant capital investment is a strategic advantage. Outsourcing specialized tasks allows companies to tap into expert knowledge and state-of-the-art equipment, optimizing resources and focusing on core competencies. As Sprint Bioscience continues to expand its pipeline of preclinical oncology programs, its collaboration with SciLifeLab underscores the importance of infrastructure access for fast-moving biotech companies.

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