Privately owned contract research organization Selcia has opened a facility in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, responding to what the UK-based company says is an “ever-growing” US client base, according to PharmaTimes.

The new SelciaWest facility will initially focus on providing the company’s proprietary CEfrag fragment screening service to global pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients.

CEfrag uses capillary electrophoresis to detect weak binding interactions between fragments and therapeutic targets. According to Selcia, is an especially powerful tool for identifying hits on challenging biological targets, such as protein-protein interactions.

Setting up a dedicated base in the US market “is a demonstration of our commitment to provide our clients and collaborators in North America with the highest level of service and attention, combined with ‘best in class’ science, for which Selcia is globally recognized,” commented chief executive officer Simon Saxby.