Adaptive Chemistry Team: Accelerating Early Oncology Discovery Programs

Small molecule synthesis in early oncology is only becoming more challenging as molecular complexity rises and timelines become increasingly compressed. In response, within AstraZeneca, the Adaptive Chemistry Team (ACT) has become central to synthetic delivery across early oncology projects, providing an integrated approach to route design, problem solving, and execution. Early route development, combined with enabling capabilities such as high-throughput experimentation (HTE) and biocatalysis, accelerates progression through the discovery phase by improving speed and flexibility in synthesis. In parallel, early process development enables faster scale-up, supporting more rapid delivery of compounds for downstream studies. Together, these approaches are strengthening synthesis capability in discovery and play a key role in accelerating the delivery of small molecule candidates in oncology.