Avista Capital Makes Investment in eMolecules

eMolecules is a leading provider of high-value, hard-to-find chemicals and bioreagents used in early stage drug discovery research

Further expands Avista's franchise of market-leading platforms in highly compelling healthcare segments

News provided by

Avista Capital Partners

Mar 25, 2021, 07:00 ET

NEW YORK, March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Avista Capital Partners ("Avista"), a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to invest in eMolecules ("eMolecules," or the "Company"), a novel and fast-growing e-procurement platform for high-value chemicals and bioreagents used by the leading pharmaceutical companies in drug discovery. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Founded in 2005, eMolecules accelerates the drug discovery process by connecting pharmaceutical and biotechnology researchers with sophisticated reagents not offered by the usual commodity suppliers. The Company serves nearly 1,000 customers around the world, with more than 120 million SKUs that are sourced from more than 300 suppliers across 35 countries. eMolecules' unique e-commerce platform makes it possible for customers to expeditiously search, find, and fulfill their reagent needs from anywhere on the planet. By eliminating the compromises researchers often must make when purchasing from commodity suppliers, eMolecules is able to significantly impact the pace of early-stage drug discovery.

"As pharma companies seek to simplify their supply chains and accelerate speed to market, eMolecules helps expedite drug discovery programs by reducing the barriers, time and costs associated with acquiring important research chemicals and biologic products," said Sriram Venkataraman, partner at Avista Capital Partners. "Avista is excited to support the growth potential eMolecules has demonstrated among its existing base of blue chip pharma customers, as well as its expansion into other biopharma and academic customers. Additionally, we see significant runway for the eMolecules business model in a number of critically important product areas."

"eMolecules has rapidly become the world's most popular source for synthetic building blocks based on its reputation for quality, fast delivery times and our unrivalled product offering. Our close partnerships with 14 of the 15 top pharma and biopharma procurement departments have revolutionized scientists' ability to access these valuable reagents," said eMolecules CEO Niko Gubernator, PhD. "In Avista, we have identified a partner who shares our perspective on how vital the customer is in building marketplace businesses. Moreover, everyone's expectations for the pace of drug discovery have changed as a function of the world's shared experience with the pandemic and we see Avista as the perfect partner to help us rapidly scale our business in response."

Robert W. Baird & Co. served as exclusive financial advisor to eMolecules. Paul Hastings LLP served as legal advisor to eMolecules, and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal advisor to Avista.

About Avista Capital Partners

Founded in 2005, Avista Capital is a leading New York-based private equity firm with over $6 billion invested in more than 35 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's Operating 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.avistacap.com.

About eMolecules:

eMolecules is driven to improve the human condition by enabling scientists to accelerate their research to find effective therapeutics. To achieve this, eMolecules provides business intelligence data and integrated ecommerce software for screening compound, chemical building blocks and primary antibody supply chains. These tools, combined with their acquisition, aggregation and analytical services, greatly empower drug discovery researchers working in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academia, CRO and agrochemical industries. A privately owned company, eMolecules was founded in 2005 at its San Diego headquarters and has offices in Boston and London, employing over 50 people across the three sites.

Contacts:

Daniel Yunger / Hallie Wolff
Kekst CNC
[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Avista Capital Partners