In 2004 the company established its own facilities to develop Novel Synthetic Glycoproteins:

The approach developed by GlycoForm uses a cell-free fully synthetic approach to protein glycosylation. The key benefit of this approach is the production of a consistent glycoform in high yield and has the following advantages:

• Product consistency, which in turn confers safety and regulatory advantages
• Different sugars can be attached at any site chosen for glycosylation on the protein, further extending the potential biological impact of protein glycosylation
• A whole range of sugars can be introduced using a pure synthetic approach, or by using glycosyltranferases, or a combination of both. This flexibility extends the scope of the glycobiological effects that can be produced
• The simple protein can be expressed in any system to deliver optimal cost and technical advantages

GlycoForm will deliver Novel Synthetic Glycoproteins with genuine structure-activity enhancement. Since mid-2004 GlycoForm has established internal programmes and external commercial collaborations. The first of the internal programmes, GLY510 for anaemia, is moving into lead optimisation.