Optibrium raises investment to advance computer-aided drug discovery
Investment by Kester Capital will drive commercial growth and the development of new products to improve speed, efficiency, and productivity of the discovery process
11 Feb 2021
Optibrium™, a developer of software for drug discovery, has announced it has raised significant investment from Kester Capital, a leading UK mid-market private equity firm typically investing between £10 to £20 million per deal. The funding will accelerate the development of the business through organic growth and acquisition. Currently, more than 150 organizations worldwide deploy Optibrium’s technology in their research programs, including five of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies.
Founded in 2009 by Matt Segall, CEO, and Ed Champness, Chief Scientific Officer, Optibrium is based in Cambridge, UK with offices in the USA in Boston and San Francisco. Optibrium’s products enable preclinical drug discovery, focusing on ‘hit to lead’ and ‘lead optimization’ phases. Their lead products are StarDrop™ and Cerella™. StarDrop is a comprehensive suite of integrated software for small molecule design, optimization, and data analysis that enhances the drug discovery process’s speed and productivity. The Cerella™ platform delivers groundbreaking and proven artificial intelligence technology that learns from complex drug discovery data to target high-potential chemical compounds.
The market for computer-aided drug discovery (CADD) is fast-growing, driven by the increasing capabilities and sophistication of software tools that can deliver material cost and time savings for drug developers. Independent market research[1] predicts that the global CADD market will surpass $4.8 billion by 2026, rising from $1.5 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 15.5%.
Adam Maidment, managing partner of Kester Capital, said: “Optibrium is a cutting edge software business that is driving some of the most exciting developments within computer-aided drug discovery. We had been tracking the business for some time and were really impressed by the team and the business’ achievements. We are looking forward to working with Matt and Ed to grow the business.”
Matt Segall, CEO of Optibrium, said: “We are delighted to have Kester Capital on board as an investment partner to continue the successful evolution of the business. Kester has extensive experience in the life sciences sector, and we are looking forward to working with them to capitalize on the substantial market opportunities.”
[1] Computer-Aided Drug Discovery Market (2020), Research Dive market research.
Wabt the latest science news straight to your inbox? Become a SelectScience member for free today>>
Related Products
Request Quote for All Products
StarDrop 5 - Drug Discovery Software
OptibriumStarDrop is a suite of software that helps you to deliver optimally balanced, effective drugs - fast StarDrop works by evaluating complex data, which is often uncertain because of experimental variability or predictive error. In scoring this data, it brings confidence and intuitive simplicity to decision-making: guiding and validating the direction you take and which compounds you prioritise. Its instantly interactive tools then enable you to efficiently explore ways to further improve your chosen chemistries.Highly visual and easy-to-use, StarDrop also works with your existing IT systems to integrate a multiplicity of data sources. The latest release, version 5.5, comes with extensive data visualisation tools, which now include interactive 3D scatter and chemical space plots.StarDrop's modules include predictive ADME models, P450 metabolism prediction, automatic model building, application of 3D SAR based on Cresset's Field technology, knowledge based toxicity prediction through Derek Nexus while the Nova module can be used for automatically generating new compound ideas in parrallel with the BIOSTER database.StarDrop 5 - Drug Discovery Software Features: Probabilistic Scoring Chemical space Glowing Molecule Data visualisation R-group analysis StarDrop 5 Optional Modules: ADME QSAR Auto-Modeller Nova BIOSTER P450 torch3D Derek Nexus MPO Explorer