Confo Therapeutics is a drug discovery company building internal drug discovery programs on GPCRs addressing unmet medical need. Confo Therapeutics employs its proprietary CONFO® technology to lock inherent unstable functional conformations of GPCRs as a superior starting point for drug discovery. CONFO® body-stabilized active state conformations of these receptors disclose previously inaccessible structural features empowering the discovery of novel agonists for better therapeutic intervention.

The VUB department for Structural Biology, headed by Jan Steyaert was founded by Lode Wyns in the seventies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and is one of the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology departments. The understanding of the function of a protein, from its structure to its dynamics, remains the central theme of the lab. Our multidisciplinary team of about 80 researchers is housed in new laboratory facilities and combines extensive expertise in biophysics and molecular biology. We master genetic engineering, protein purification, enzymology, calorimetry, crystallography, surface plasmon resonance, atomic force microscopy and now also NMR.Major research interests include Biomedical targets, Structural enzymology, Bacterial adhesion, Toxin-antitoxin systems and Biomolecular NMR. Translational research is intrinsic to our programs, with possible applications in medicine.

Teaching Biochemistry and Structural biology courses. Performing research in structural biology.

Recent work involves the use of single domain antibodies (nanobodies) derived from camels to rigidify flexible regions and obscure aggregative surfaces on proteins. Stable complexes with nanobodies warrant conformationally uniform samples that are key to protein structure determination by X-ray crystallography. The elucidation of the first GPCR structures by Nanobody-assisted X-ray crystallography demonstrates the power of our technology platform for generating diffracting quality crystals of the most challenging targets. Nanobodies that faithfully mimic G protein binding were used to crystallize active agonist-bound states of the human beta2 adrenergic receptor. Other nanobodies that stabilize the beta2AR•Gs complex were instrumental to obtain the crystal structure of this complex, providing the first view of transmembrane signaling by a GPCR. See www.steyaertlab.eu

AgroSavfe employs its proprietary Agrobody™ technology platform to develop superior crop protection products, based on active ingredients with proven efficacy, in combination with Agrobodies™ as formulation agents.

Ablynx is focused on the discovery and development of Nanobodies®, a novel class of antibody-derived therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, for a range of serious human diseases including inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease.

The International Livestock Research Institute is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. ILRI works with partners to help poor people keep their farm animals alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity and find profitable markets for their animal products.

Plant Genetic Systems (PGS), since 2002 part of Bayer CropScience, is a biotech company located in Ghent, Belgium. The focus of its activities is the genetic engineering of plants. The company is best known for its work in the development of insect-resistant transgenic plants.