Centre for Drug Design & Discovery (CD3)

What Centre for Drug Design & Discovery (CD3) does

Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) is a Belgium-based investment fund and drug discovery center founded in 2006 and headquartered in the Bio-incubator 2 research park in Leuven (Heverlee). The organization functions as an intermediary between early-stage biomedical research emerging from academic institutes and biotechs and the pharmaceutical industry, providing both capital and operational drug discovery capabilities to advance promising science toward clinical development. Since inception, CD3 has initiated 35+ drug discovery projects, established 15+ partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and deployed 50+ million Euro across its portfolio.

CD3's core capability is state-of-the-art drug discovery expertise spanning medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, applied through a co-development model with academic and industry partners. Spotlight programs include dengue virus inhibitors (partnered with Johnson & Johnson), Yap/TAZ-TEAD inhibitors for hippo-dependent cancers such as mesothelioma and lung cancer (partnered with SpringWorks Therapeutics), and novel RSV antivirals (partnered with Gilead). The organization has also made equity-style investments in portfolio companies, most recently in Enedra Therapeutics to advance its proprietary CASPAROV precision oncology platform. Leadership comprises Managing Director Patrick Chaltin and Executive Director of Business Development Stefaan Allemeersch.

Commercially, CD3 operates a hybrid revenue model combining investment returns from drug discovery spin-offs (licensing and royalty streams) with milestone-based professional services revenue from co-development collaborations. Pricing and partnership terms are negotiated individually rather than publicly disclosed, consistent with the bespoke nature of pharma co-development deals. Customer concentration is inherently tied to a small set of major pharmaceutical partners, with academic researchers and biotechs supplying the upstream project pipeline. CD3 does not publicly disclose revenue, headcount (stated as 11-50), or detailed funding-round history; the entity is privately held with no parent company or institutional investor details disclosed in available materials.

Name

Centre for Drug Design & Discovery (CD3)

Legal name

Centre for Drug Design and Discovery

Website

https://cd3.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CD3 is a Belgium-based investment fund and drug discovery center founded in 2006 that bridges academic biomedical research with the pharmaceutical industry. It co-develops drug candidates with academic and biotech partners and deploys capital into spin-offs, having initiated 35+ projects across partners including Johnson & Johnson, Gilead, and SpringWorks Therapeutics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drug Discovery Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Companion Diagnostic (CDx) Co-Development Services (biopharma partnerships, clinical strategy) (HLAAAMAB)

Keywords

• Drug discovery services
• Pharmaceutical R&D
• Medicinal chemistry
• Biotech investment
• Academic industry collaboration

Headquarters

HQ city

Leuven

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns from Drug Discovery Portfolio: CD3 generates returns by investing in drug discovery spin-offs and biotech companies, creating value through successful commercialization of co-developed drugs
2. Drug Discovery Co-development Services: CD3 collaborates with partners on drug discovery projects, creating value through partnership agreements and milestone-based collaborations with pharmaceutical companies

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CD3 is an investment fund and drug discovery center that bridges innovative biomedical research from academic institutes and biotechs with the pharmaceutical industry. It applies state-of-the-art drug discovery expertise to co-create drug candidates with partners and invests in drug discovery spin-offs and biotech companies. Over 50 million Euro has been deployed across 35+ projects and 15+ pharmaceutical/biotech partnerships.

Product overview

CD3 operates as an investment fund and drug discovery center that bridges academic biomedical research with the pharmaceutical industry. The organization manages a portfolio of drug discovery projects including dengue virus inhibitors, Yap/TAZ-TEAD inhibitors for cancer treatment, and RSV antivirals. CD3 also invests in proprietary technology platforms such as Enedra Therapeutics' CASPAROV platform for precision cancer therapies. The core offering combines drug discovery expertise with investment capabilities to advance early-stage biomedical innovations toward clinical applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dengue Virus Inhibitors

Quantifiable outcome

• 35+ drug discovery projects initiated
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Johnson & JohnsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered project on dengue virus inhibitors - a drug discovery collaboration focused on developing treatments for dengue virus infection.
• SpringWorks TherapeuticscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered project on Yap/TAZ-TEAD inhibitors for mesothelioma and lung cancer - a collaboration developing novel therapies for hippo-dependent cancers.
• GileadcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered project on RSV antivirals - a collaboration to develop novel respiratory syncytial virus antiviral treatments.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Flagship Pioneering: Hybrid biotech creation firm that originates and builds companies from breakthrough science. Operates a fund-plus-operational model analogous to CD3, partnering with academic and biotech innovators to develop new medicines.
• Atlas Venture: Early-stage biotech venture firm with a company creation model that builds startups around academic science. Directly comparable to CD3 in bridging academic research to pharma through active operational involvement.
• Apollo Therapeutics: UK-based drug discovery company that funds and develops translational research from leading universities and hospitals. Closely mirrors CD3's fund-plus-co-development model with biopharma.
• Forbion: European life sciences venture capital firm investing in biotech drug discovery and development. Comparable to CD3 as a European-headquartered investor in drug development assets.
• BioGeneration Ventures: Dutch-based VC focused on early-stage European biotech, with hands-on involvement in company building. Similar geographic and operational footprint to CD3 with comparable biotech investment focus.
• Versant Ventures: Biotech venture firm with company creation capabilities and active operational involvement in portfolio drug discovery. Comparable hybrid investor-operator model.
• MPM Capital: Biotech-focused investment firm that both funds and actively co-develops therapeutic programs. Overlaps with CD3's blend of investment capital and drug discovery execution.

Emerging players

• Curie.Bio: Biotech seed investor and company creator partnering with academic founders. Shares CD3's model of identifying academic science and packaging it for pharma partnership.

Broad incumbents

• SR One: GSK's corporate venture arm investing across biotech and therapeutic platforms. Provides a comparable pharma-linked capital source for drug discovery assets, though at greater scale and as part of a wider portfolio.
• Novartis Venture Fund: Corporate venture arm of Novartis investing in early-stage drug discovery companies. Comparable as a pharma-aligned capital partner for biotech co-development, though operating at much larger scale than CD3.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centre for Drug Design & Discovery (CD3)