History of the name RG Discovery

The company name RG Discovery originated as Red Glead Discovery (RGD), which stems from a combination of our central chemistry concept “Lead Discovery” and a Middle English name for several birds of prey, in particular the European kite (Milvus Milvus, or “Glada” as it is called in Swedish), which is the provincial bird of Skåne.

Seven scientists previously employed at AstraZeneca started the company in 2011

When the pharmaceutical giant chose to move its research division out of Lund in 2011, the founders decided to stay, utilizing their many years of pharmaceutical research experience to start RGD. Based on their previous roles at AstraZeneca, the founders represented different skill sets within chemistry, biology and ADME – in essence, a drug discovery team from pharma exposed to the external world. Given this combined expertise, the primary focus of RGD has been to drive and execute integrated drug discovery projects in a laboratory-based setting.

In 2014, RGD merged with the company Pepticon, to expand its capacity within the area of peptide chemistry and in 2016, RGD graduated from the business incubator SmiLe. Since its start-up, the company has been located at the previous AstraZeneca site in Lund, now Medicon Village – a Life Science hub for companies in southern Sweden.

Work, growth and acquisition

Over the years RGD has helped hundreds of clients and partners towards the development of new therapies. While business generated in Sweden is important, the customer base in the rest of the Nordics, Asia and USA is growing. The vast majority of the sales are based on returning customers, demonstrating the importance of the value delivered. Since the start of the company, RGD has also been awarded the Gazelle prize by Dagens Industri, for being one of Sweden’s fastest growing companies, a total of four times.

In the summer of 2026, RG Discovery was acquired by Pelago Bioscience. This formed one of the largest early Drug Discovery service provider in the Nordics, where the diversity of RGD services complements Pelago’s patented CETSA technology.