NCMNtech
Enabling Platform for Structure-Based Drug Discovery

See your target as it truly exists.

The NCMN System reveals membrane protein structures exactly as they exist in their native cell membrane lipid environment, at the resolution drug discovery depends on.

Explore our work →
Cryo-EM rendering of a membrane protein binding pocket with labeled residues in native lipid environment

Your target.
Its native state.
Real structures.

Better drugs.

Why membrane proteins

A fraction of the proteome, but the majority of where drugs act.

>60%

Of approved drug targets are membrane proteins.

22%

Of all human proteins are membrane proteins.

100%

Detergent-free preparation.

Platform Overview

A membrane protein technology platform for structure-based drug discovery.

NCMNtech is a biotech company built on membrane protein technology platform that enables high-quality structural biology and structure-based drug discovery for challenging membrane protein targets. The platform supports cryo-EM structure determination, polymer-based membrane protein stabilization, and collaborations with pharmaceutical partners for drug-target studies.

It is designed to be compatible with external computational chemistry and AI-enabled drug-discovery workflows. Potential third-party platforms that could complement the technology include AIDDISON™, a generative AI drug-discovery platform, and SYNTHIA®, a retrosynthesis software product. Integration with such tools would be subject to separate licensing, subscription agreements, or future collaboration.

The Problem with Current Methods

The accuracy of your starting point determines everything that follows.

Most membrane proteins are studied only after standard preparation methods have altered them. What gets solved is probably enough to publish, but might not be accurate enough to build a reliable drug program.

Stability Limitation
Instable membrane protein sample leads to unrepeatable results
Detergent-based membrane protein sample often damage the native protein-lipid interactions that are crucial for membrane protein stabilization. Reconstitution membrane protein into nanodiscs with artificial lipids could not faithfully restore the native protein-lipid interactions.
Preparation artifact
Detergent preparation distorts protein conformation
Removing native lipids changes the protein's shape, creating false binding pockets and hiding real allosteric sites. Programs built on these starting points are built on an artifact.
Engineering artifact
Stabilizing mutations move the goalposts
Engineering proteins for imaging stability alters the very conformations a drug needs to target. The protein you solve may not be the protein your drug encounters.
Prediction limitation
Computational prediction cannot model the membrane
AI structure-prediction tools like AlphaFold capture sequence-based folding, but they cannot show lipid-dependent conformations, or native structural dynamics, the features that determine how a drug actually binds.
See the technical detail →
What's Now Possible

Same protein. Two completely different pictures.

Standard preparation
Standard detergent-based membrane protein preparation
✕
Lipid pocket appears emptyNative lipids removed leaving cavities that look druggable but aren't accessible in the real membrane.
✕
Helices in wrong conformationNon-physiological shape misrepresents allosteric geometry and pharmacophore positions.
✕
Virtual screens flag false positivesCompounds optimized against inaccessible pockets advance, then fail.
Program designed around an artifact. Discrepancy discovered late.
vs
NCMN native preparation
NCMN native-state preparation with native lipids retained
✓
Native lipids visible and mappedPocket occupancy correctly identified; screening targets only real, accessible binding sites.
✓
Helices in true conformationNative geometry preserved; allosteric landscape accurately represented from day one.
✓
Computational campaigns grounded in realityDocking and virtual screening run against the target as it exists in the body.
Program built on accurate biology from the first data point onward.
Demonstrated on Real Targets

Three findings standard methods missed.

NCMNtech has resolved real drug targets in their native state, revealing biology that changed what was known about each one, and with it, what was possible for programs built on them.

Bacterial AcrB TransporterPNAS · 2018
A 24-lipid bilayer patch found tightly organized within the transmembrane domain, invisible in prior detergent-based structures. The lipid patch is integral to the transporter's drug-efflux mechanism.Full detail →
Human Mitochondrial TSPOPNAS · 2025
Revealed as a cholesterol-dependent enzyme, a finding inaccessible to standard preparation or computational prediction. Resolves a long-standing controversy in TSPO drug design.Full detail →
Human Integrin αIIbβ3Nature Communications · 2024
Inactive state shown to have a fully accessible ligand-binding site, previously missed when standard preparation disrupted the native conformation. Direct implications for antiplatelet drug design.Full detail →
Results independently verified through peer-reviewed publication in PNAS and Nature Communications.See the full evidence →
Work With Us

We provide the state-of-the-art solution for structure-based drug discovery.

The NCMN System is an enabling technology platform built to support drug discovery from its earliest stages.

We combine static and dynamic structural characterization, using conventional and time-resolved cryo-EM, with structures built to feed external computational chemistry and AI-enabled drug-discovery workflows. The result supports structure-based discovery and optimization, through flexible, long-term collaboration models.

Successful case studies have been published in PNAS and Nature Communications.

Explore the applications →
How We Work

NCMNtech works as a direct partner to drug discovery teams. Every collaboration is shaped around your target, your timeline, and your program stage.

Co-discovery and long-term collaboration models
What The Platform Produces
  • Native-state cryo-EM structures, with PDB-ready coordinates and mapped lipid sites
  • NCMN particles for functional characterization
GET STARTED

Ready to see your target as it truly exists?

Tell us about your target. We'll tell you what native-state characterization can reveal, and what that means for your program.

YOUR TARGET. ITS NATIVE STATE. REAL STRUCTURES. BETTER DRUGS.
info@ncmntech.com