eMolecules Acquires Synple Chem AG

Combination strengthens eMolecules’ position as the global one-stop-shop solution provider for efficient chemical compound procurement, full-service compound management and automation solutions for drug discovery researchers

SAN DIEGO and ZURICH, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — eMolecules, Inc., provider of the industry-leading chemical compound search-and-fulfillment platform for early discovery chemistry research, today announced that it has acquired Synple Chem AG (“Synple”).

Synple specializes in automated chemical synthesis systems and solutions for small molecules drug discovery customers. With Synple’s virtual compound library, which provides access to more than 7 trillion tractable compounds, combined with eMolecules’ eXplore library of more than 4 trillion compounds, eMolecules now offers the world’s most diverse selection of virtual compounds.

Headquartered near Zurich, Synple serves premier pharma and biotech customers in the United States and in Europe. The acquisition strategically expands eMolecules’ product and service portfolio to include automation solutions and enhances its one-stop-shop offering for drug discovery customers.

Researchers can quickly and efficiently search for and obtain compounds from hundreds of specialty chemical suppliers with over 100 million in-stock SKUs, while simultaneously searching across their own proprietary libraries and now also trillions of virtual compounds via eMolecules’ and Synple’s virtual libraries.

“We are thrilled to welcome the highly reputable and talented Synple team into eMolecules,” said Dr. Niko Gubernator, CEO and President of eMolecules. “As a combined company, we are poised to deepen and broaden our relationships with research organizations. Our customers have expressed the need for a true, global, end-to-end partner to support efficient compound procurement, management and automation across regionally distributed chemistry groups. We look forward to capitalizing on opportunities to expand our offerings and innovate for our customers.”

“We are excited to join forces with eMolecules, a company that shares our vision of revolutionizing the way researchers access chemical compounds and the chemical space,” said Dr. Benedikt Wanner, CEO of Synple. “By integrating Synple’s automated synthesis technology and extensive virtual compound library into eMolecules’ unparalleled search-and-fulfillment platform, we are uniquely positioned to empower drug discovery teams with the tools they need to accelerate innovation and their discovery faster than ever before.”

“The transaction perfectly aligns to eMolecules’ business model and continued investments in creating a global one-stop shop for highly differentiated specialty chemistry services and solutions,” said Sriram Venkataraman, Partner at Avista Healthcare Partners, eMolecules’ primary investor. “With Synple’s massive virtual library and highly efficient automated synthesis platform, the combination represents a significant step forward in eMolecules’ growth story.”

eMolecules is a portfolio company of Avista Healthcare Partners, a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare.

Contacts

For questions or more information about this transaction, please contact:

For eMolecules:
Jeff Desroches, SVP Corporate Development
[email protected]

For Avista Healthcare Partners:
Daniel Yunger / William Halliday
Kekst CNC
[email protected] / [email protected]

About eMolecules Inc.

eMolecules was founded in 2005 with a vision to reduce drug discovery timelines through improved efficiencies in the compound search and acquisition process. This led to the creation of the industry’s most powerful, reliable and accurate digital chemical search engine directly connecting chemists to the world’s largest readily available chemical space.

eMolecules specializes in unique structures with dependable delivery options coming from a trusted network of hundreds of suppliers, globally. With an extensive chemical database combined with industry-leading supply chain management, eMolecules delivers compounds quickly and reliably to chemists enabling the completion of more syntheses with more confidence and less time in the lab. eMolecules remains the primary global purchasing channel for chemical building blocks and screening compounds at 14 of the top 15 pharmaceutical companies.

Continued commitment to supporting drug discovery research has led to the expansion of eMolecules’ services to providing chemical intelligence data, specialty reagent procurement services and providing integrated eCommerce software for chemical building blocks, screening compounds, and primary antibody supply chains.

The recent acquisitions of Frontier Scientific Inc. and Specs Compound Handling B.V., leading providers of chemical compound management services, grew the eMolecules team to over 150 employees globally. eMolecules is headquartered in San Diego, California, USA and has commercial and laboratory operations in California, Maryland and Delaware, USA, London, UK, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, and Zurich, Switzerland. Avista Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm, became the primary investors in eMolecules in 2021. For more information, visit www.emolecules.com.

About Synple Chem AG

Synple Chem was created in 2016 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich when the company founders recognized that chemists’ level of experience leads to significant variability in synthetic processing results. The founders then further discussed the tremendous potential value of providing these same chemists with encapsulated reagents that could be utilized in an automated machine in which a complicated synthetic process is executed by simply inserting a cartridge and pressing “go.” From that starting point, Dr. Benedikt Wanner (Founder & CEO) and his team developed the basic proof of concept for the “coffee machine for chemistry.” In addition to selling systems and consumables, Synple introduced synthesis services in late 2023. They now have customers in pharma, biotech, CRO, and academia across Europe, US, and Asia. Their goal is to provide easy to use, safe, efficiency-enhancing organic synthesis solutions to accelerate discovery research. For more information, visit www.synplechem.com.

About Avista Healthcare Partners

Founded in 2005, Avista Healthcare is a leading New York-based private equity firm with over $8 billion invested in more than 45 growth-oriented healthcare businesses globally. Avista partners with businesses that feature strong management teams, stable cash flows and robust growth prospects – investing in the medical devices and technologies, pharmaceuticals, outsourced pharmaceutical services, healthcare technology, healthcare distribution, and consumer-driven healthcare sectors. Avista helps its portfolio companies to accelerate growth through strategic acquisitions, having completed nearly 100 add-on acquisitions historically across its healthcare portfolio. Avista’s Strategic Executives and Advisors are an integral part of the team, providing strategic insight, operational oversight and senior counsel, which helps drive growth and performance, while fostering sustainable businesses and creating long-term value for all stakeholders. For more information, visit www.avistahealthcare.com.

SOURCE eMolecules, Inc.