IMCA-CAT
Lemont, Illinois
The Industrial Macromolecular Crystallography Association -Collaborative Access Team (IMCA-CAT) is a state-of-the-art research facility for pharmaceutical structure-based drug design. The research conducted sheds light on the form and function of proteins and potential therapeutics for treating disease. For more than 30 years, IMCA-CAT has served a critical role in advancing the development of new drugs.
IMCA was established in 1990 to support the operation and development of the IMCA-CAT facility at sector 17 of the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. Usage of the facility’s beamline is shared by the pharmaceutical members of IMCA, including AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Evotec, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Relay Therapeutics.
IMCA-CAT brings efficiency and flexibility to proprietary drug discovery research:
- An intense focused beam, robotics for sample mounting, diffraction rastering and high-speed precision sample positioning, and shutterless continuous-rotation data collection enable the beamline to meet the throughput demands of the pharmaceutical industry.
- Experiment design capabilities include wavelength tunability for multi-wavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD) and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) experiments, selectable mini beam for optimum beam size, and collect-along-a-vector for overcoming sample degradation.
- Guaranteed, frequent and routine access for proprietary data acquisition, whether on-site, remotely or via mail-in, smoothly integrates with pharmaceutical drug design workflows.
IMCA-CAT partners with the pharmaceutical industry members of IMCA to drive innovation and sustain cutting-edge operations, distinguishing the beamline as a cost-effective, world-class facility for pharmaceutical research.