Sustaining Client Trust through a Comprehensive Discovery Chemistry Platform | A Conversation with Dr. Li Feng

Building lasting trust with our clients is at the heart of what we do. In 2025, Daewoong Pharmaceutical recognized BioDuro as Best CRO in 2025, a mark of the trust built through years of consistent collaboration. That trust echoed across our global client base: we received such customer recognitions from over 100 clients worldwide. For the chemistry team, about 50% of our FTE clients expanded their engagement, and notably, none shifted work to competing CROs.

To understand what makes this trust last, we sat down with Dr. Li Feng, our Senior Director of Discovery Chemistry and lead of the Daewoong program, to hear his thoughts on building partnerships that endure.

As the lead for the Daewoong program, what went through your mind when the client awarded BioDuro for the second year in a row?

Receiving the award two years in a row made me reflect on what it truly means to earn client trust.  Clients don't continue working with us just because we did a good job once. They stay when they see consistency across every project.

This recognition reflects BioDuro's commitment to continuously improving how we serve our clients and raising the bar for every program.

It also comes down to our chemists. They bring over 5 years of bench experience on average, more than half hold advanced degrees, and many director-level scientists who trained at leading research institutions overseas. With a voluntary turnover rate below 3%, the same team can see a program from start to finish, delivering the consistency that clients rely on.

How do you ensure clients can rely on your chemistry to stay on schedule?

Clients need more than speed. They need certainty and predictability. A missed handoff or an unexpected delay can set back an entire program by weeks.

Keeping projects on track starts with designing robust synthetic routes. We base our designs on comprehensive literature research and extensive practical experience. A robust, well-designed route is essential for efficient and predictable synthesis. Proactive communication with clients also plays a key role. We discuss potential synthesis challenges in advance, and if any issues arise during synthesis, we update clients and share our proposed solutions.

To turn these routes into predictable outcomes, we structure our workflow around consistency. For challenging chemistry, our chemists screen conditions in less than 1 day, prepare reagents in under 2.5 days, and get samples to clients within 5 days. Across more than 6,000 molecules each month, this consistency allows clients to plan their timelines with confidence.

Our FTE chemists play a key role in maintaining this reliability, delivering an average of 4 compounds per month and completing over 50 reactions per month, from singletons to complex libraries. With a 99% on-time delivery rate, clients can build their timelines around ours with confidence.

For tough chemistry challenges, our team can troubleshoot conditions in under 1 day. How do they do it?

When a reaction stalls, our team resolves the issue in under 24 hours. The process starts with a 4-hour diagnostic phase, where we review reaction parameters and spectra based on literature and prior experience. Then we run a 16-hour high-throughput screening sprint, testing variables such as PhotoRedox or Flow Chemistry. Finally, we use a 4-hour review to validate the solution before delivering results to the client.

Coordination is key throughout the cycle. FTE chemists, group leaders, and directors work together throughout the cycle, supported by our High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) platform. This approach lets us quickly troubleshoot problems without delaying the overall program.

Beyond synthesis expertise, how does the platform support clients in moving their programs forward with confidence and predictability?

Our platform delivers what clients value most: consistent execution, predictable results, and rapid troubleshooting when challenges arise. These principles guide every complex program we take on.

We also strategically integrate chemistry with cross-functional capabilities including CADD, DMPK, discovery biology, and pharmacology. This allows us to provide expert guidance, anticipate risks, and support clients in making informed decisions, all while maintaining high-quality outcomes and reliable timelines.

By combining technical depth, coordinated workflows, and a stable, experienced team, we don't just deliver projects. We partner with clients to manage risk, solve problems efficiently, and advance programs effectively. This approach ensures clients can move their discovery programs forward with confidence, knowing they have a trusted partner at every stage.

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