Optibrium Acquires BioPharmics LLC

Optibrium, a leading developer of software and AI solutions for drug discovery, has completed the acquisition of BioPharmics LLC, expanding its 3D drug design and modelling offering. Bringing decades of experience in computational chemistry and biology, BioPharmics’ CEO, Dr Ajay Jain, and Director of Applied Science, Dr Ann Cleves, join the Optibrium team, respectively focusing on R&D and Application Science in the newly-created BioPharmics Division.

BioPharmics has developed a series of industry-leading algorithms and software for 3D ligand-based and structure-based computational drug design, including software for 2D to 3D ligand conversion and conformer generation (ForceGen), molecular docking (Surflex-Dock), molecular similarity (eSim), and binding affinity prediction (QuanSA). These highly performant products have all been rigorously researched and their results demonstrated in numerous peer-reviewed papers, many published jointly with key pharmaceutical industry partners.

The strategic acquisition brings powerful technology for 3D ligand- and structure-based design into Optibrium's comprehensive StarDrop platform for small molecule design, optimisation and data analysis, complementing its existing range of artificial intelligence, de novo design, and in silico modelling software. The deal follows a long-standing collaboration between the two companies, including partnering on the development of the Surflex eSim3D StarDrop module.

“After years of close collaboration, we are delighted that Optibrium was chosen to support BioPharmics’ continued scientific innovation and expanding customer base.” Dr Matthew Segall, CEO, Optibrium said.“We are delighted to welcome Ajay and Ann to the team. Their extensive experience in computational chemistry and biology, alongside BioPharmics’ world-leading software for 3D ligand- and structure-based design, will bring Optibrium to the forefront of these essential technologies for small molecule discovery and design.”

Dr Ajay Jain, Founder and CEO of BioPharmics, commented: “We have always been impressed by Optibrium’s focus on scientific rigour, and we firmly believe that there is no better team to continue the powerful software developments that BioPharmics has introduced over the years. I look forward to working as part of the Optibrium team to expand their internal expertise in 3D drug design, as well as on future drug discovery innovations.”