What Collaborative Drug Discovery does

Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD), founded in 2004 and headquartered in Burlingame, California, operates a hosted SaaS platform called CDD Vault that manages biological and chemical data for drug discovery research. The platform provides web-based scientific data management combining entity registration (small molecules, biologics, peptides, nucleic acids, mixtures), assay informatics, electronic lab notebook (ELN) functionality, inventory tracking, dose-response curve analysis, and visualization tools. Modular add-ons extend the core platform with AI capabilities, automation for instrument connectivity, and specialized biologics support. CDD Vault is differentiated by domain specialization for drug discovery, FAIR data principles compliance, REST API access, and a 90-minute onboarding-to-proficiency window.

The company serves a diversified customer base spanning biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms, contract research organizations, academic medical centers, agritech companies, and non-profit research funders, with notable logos including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Weill Cornell Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, X-Chem, Jubilant Biosys, Standigm, Plexium, and MoA Technology. Revenue is generated through quote-based annual SaaS subscriptions on a fully hosted, secure platform with a PLG motion through free Public Access data registration and a sales-led motion via dedicated US and UK enterprise sales teams.

CDD has executed a multi-quarter product cadence through 2025-2026, including AI+ and Curves module updates, Zero-Click Inference, a Visualization Workspace release, Registration Blueprints for multi-entity support, and a strategically significant May 2026 integration of Eli Lilly's TuneLab AI/ML platform that gives biotech customers access to Lilly-trained ADMET models via federated learning. The company operates from Burlingame, a Washington DC office, and a UK regional headquarters in Cambridge, supporting multi-language access across eight languages and a global customer footprint.

Name

Collaborative Drug Discovery

Legal name

Collaborative Drug Discovery, Inc.

Website

https://collaborativedrug.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Collaborative Drug Discovery operates CDD Vault, a hosted SaaS platform that manages biological and chemical data for drug discovery research. It serves biotech, pharma, CROs, and academic institutions globally through subscription-based modular data management and AI tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Burlingame

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Subscription (CDD Vault): CDD Vault operates as a SaaS platform with subscription-based pricing. The platform is described as fully hosted and secure, with subscription fees varying based on functionality tiers and usage levels. Multiple modules available including ELN, Inventory, Curves, AI, and Automation add-ons.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD) sells CDD Vault, a hosted, web-based scientific data management platform and electronic lab notebook (ELN) purpose-built for drug discovery research. The platform securely registers and tracks chemical and biological entities (small molecules, biologics, peptides, nucleic acids, mixtures), captures experimental assay and activity data, and enables real-time collaboration across organizations. Modular add-ons extend capabilities into ELN, inventory management, dose-response curve fitting, AI/ML-driven lead discovery, and laboratory automation integrations.

Product overview

CDD Vault is a unified scientific data management and drug discovery informatics platform combining a core platform with modular add-ons. The platform provides web-based collaboration for managing biological and chemical data across research organizations. Core CDD Vault includes entity Registration, Activity tracking, Visualization, and Assays modules. Add-on modules extend capabilities with ELN (Electronic Lab Notebook), Inventory management, Curves for dose-response analysis, AI for machine learning applications, Automation for instrument connectivity, and Biologics support for protein therapeutics. An advanced AI+ module offers enhanced generative AI capabilities. The platform integrates external AI/ML services such as Eli Lilly's TuneLab for ADMET predictions. CDD also offers free Public Access data hosting for community research datasets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CDD Vault Core hosted scientific data management platform and electronic lab notebook for drug discovery research. Provides web-based secure registration of chemical and biological entities (small molecules, biologics, peptides, nucleic acids, mixtures), experimental assay capture, activity tracking, visualization, and AI/ML-enabled lead discovery for biotech, pharma, CROs, and academic research organizations.
• CDD Vault AI+ Advanced AI add-on module offering enhanced machine learning and generative AI capabilities for drug discovery within CDD Vault, including deeper-learning integrations beyond the standard AI module.
• CDD Public Access Free public dataset repository integrated with CDD Vault that hosts validated drug discovery datasets from leading research groups. Includes the SPARK antibiotic discovery program, COVID-19 compound data, malaria screens, and tuberculosis research data, and is fully integrated with CDD Vault for users with accounts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Users become proficient in 90 minutes of guided onboarding
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability6 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Eli LillycoreTechnology or Integration · 20 May 2026Strategic partnership to integrate Eli Lilly's TuneLab AI/ML drug discovery platform into CDD Vault. TuneLab provides predictive ADMET models trained on decades of Lilly research data for in silico property predictions across small molecules and antibody therapeutics. The federated training approach means model accuracy improves as more companies contribute data within the secure CDD Vault environment. TuneLab has grown to over 75 partners across dozens of countries.
• Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor non-profit funder using CDD Vault for global tuberculosis drug discovery and neglected disease research. CDD has a decade-long commitment to supporting Gates Foundation-funded researchers with data management tools.
• Indiana University School of MedicineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelected CDD Vault to accelerate therapy development for Alzheimer's disease research. Academic partnership for drug discovery data management.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Peers

• BIOVIA (Dassault Systèmes):

Direct peers

• Benchling: Benchling is the most directly comparable cloud-based R&D platform for life sciences, offering ELN, registration, inventory, and workflow tools for biotech and pharma. CDD explicitly positions against Benchling on cost and time-to-value, and the two compete head-to-head for mid-market and enterprise biotech informatics contracts.
• Dotmatics: Dotmatics (now part of Revvity) is a scientific informatics platform providing ELN, registration, assay analysis, and data visualization for drug discovery. Like CDD, it serves chemistry and biology workflows for pharma and biotech, and is cited by CDD as a direct competitor on cost and ease-of-use dimensions.
• IDBS: IDBS (owned by Danaher) provides the Polar and E-WorkBook ELN platforms for biopharmaceutical R&D, with deep history in process and formulation data. It competes with CDD for biotech informatics spend, particularly with larger pharma customers and process development workflows.
• LabArchives: LabArchives is a SaaS ELN widely used in academic and research institutions, including many NIH-funded groups that CDD also serves. It competes with CDD's ELN module, particularly in academic settings where budget and NIH DMS Policy compliance drive platform choice.
• LabVantage: LabVantage is a LIMS/ELN provider serving pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic labs with sample tracking and laboratory workflow management. It competes with CDD Vault's inventory and assay management modules for lab informatics contracts.
• Mestrelab Research: Mestrelab provides chemistry-focused informatics software including Mnova for NMR/LC-MS analysis and chemical registration tools. It overlaps with CDD's chemistry registration and assay analysis capabilities, particularly for medicinal chemistry customers.
• ChemAxon: ChemAxon provides cheminformatics software (JChem, Marvin, Compound Registration) for chemical structure management, search, and analysis. It serves similar drug discovery and chemistry R&D customers as CDD and competes on chemical registration and structure-based data management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cddinc

Compliance3 records

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

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Collaborative Drug Discovery