FairJourney Bio Opens Cryo-EM Structural Biology Facility in San Diego

Antibody discovery expert expands presence in US biotech ecosystem with world-leading atomic-resolution structural biology capabilities.

Apr. 13, 2026 at 1:43am

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A highly abstract, geometric painting in muted earth tones, featuring sweeping arcs, concentric circles, and precise spirals, conceptually representing the complex structural insights enabled by cryo-electron microscopy in antibody discovery and development.FairJourney Bio's new cryo-EM facility in San Diego brings cutting-edge structural biology capabilities directly into the antibody discovery process, accelerating development timelines and increasing the probability of success.San Diego Today

FairJourney Bio, a global antibody discovery contract research organization (CRO), has announced the opening of its advanced cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structural biology facility in San Diego, California. The new site significantly expands the company's presence in the US market and incorporates atomic-resolution structural biology directly into its antibody discovery platform.

Why it matters

The facility's state-of-the-art 300 kV cryo-EM infrastructure, including two ThermoFisher Titan Krios 5 systems, enables native-state structure determination of antibody-target complexes. This brings one of the most powerful approaches in structural biology for antibody discovery within FJBio's integrated discovery workflow, providing detailed insights across the R&D value chain.

The details

The cryo-EM services, launched in January 2026, complement FJBio's antibody discovery and biologic development portfolio with rapid and detailed structural insights that are easily scalable and delivered within 2-3 weeks. The services enable scientists to visualize protein structures at atomic resolution, including protein-protein and protein-ligand complexes, providing high-quality and interpretable results to inform confident decision-making across programs.

  • The new cryo-EM facility in San Diego opened in April 2026.
  • The cryo-EM services were launched in January 2026.

The players

FairJourney Bio (FJBio)

A global antibody discovery contract research organization (CRO) that has expanded its presence in the US market with the opening of an advanced cryo-EM structural biology facility in San Diego.

Professor Andrew Ward, Ph.D.

A Professor of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at The Scripps Research Institute and a globally-recognized authority in cryo-EM and antibody science. His laboratory has pioneered methods for sequencing antibodies directly from cryo-EM data and determined the first high-resolution structure of the human coronavirus spike protein.

Dr. Christopher Arthur

The Chief Scientific Officer of Structural Biology at FairJourney Bio.

Dr. Werner Lanthaler

The Chief Executive Officer of FairJourney Bio.

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What they’re saying

“Structural biology has historically been a late-stage tool, used to confirm decisions already made. We are redefining that paradigm. In San Diego, we are building a premier, full-service cryo-EM CRO that brings together decades of deep expertise in sample preparation, data collection, and computational analysis, embedding structural insight at the very start of discovery, where it shapes epitope selection and determines which leads are worth advancing.”

— Dr. Christopher Arthur, Chief Scientific Officer Structural Biology, FairJourney Bio

“We are at an exciting time for Cryo-EM driven drug discovery, as we begin to recognize its potential to transform antibody discovery and development. It is a great honor that FJBio is globally leading this new wave of cutting-edge technology that will dramatically increase probability of success, right from the very earliest stages of discovery. With our new cryo-EM services, we will help our customers to significantly save time and costs, and accelerate their workflows.”

— Dr. Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer, FairJourney Bio

What’s next

FairJourney Bio plans to continue expanding its cryo-EM capabilities and services to support more customers in the US biotech ecosystem.

The takeaway

FairJourney Bio's new cryo-EM facility in San Diego represents a significant advancement in structural biology for antibody discovery, embedding atomic-resolution insights directly into the early stages of the R&D process to accelerate development timelines and increase the probability of success.