What PepTech Corporation does

PepTech Corporation is a privately held chemistry services company founded in 1994 by James Ma, Ph.D. and headquartered in Bedford, United States, with operational facilities in Shanghai (R&D Center) and Dalian (Manufacturing Plant), China. The company serves pharmaceutical and biotech customers across the United States, Europe, and Japan, providing custom synthesis and specialty building blocks that span the drug development lifecycle from discovery through commercial-scale drug substance manufacture. Core offerings include Discovery Services (custom synthesis from grams to kilograms, medicinal chemistry, lead optimization, SAR analysis, and isotope-labeled and library synthesis), Process Research & Development (route scouting, process optimization, analytical development, salt and polymorph studies, and impurity characterization), and Drug Substance Manufacturing (cGMP API production through a JV with FDA-certified Supor, with internal GMP capacity up to 1MT). An additional revenue and customer-acquisition engine is the catalog of more than 5,000 specialty compounds — including specialty amino acids, chiral building blocks, protected amino acid derivatives, and custom amino acid analogues — exposed through a structure-searchable database.

The business model is a mix of project-based and FTE-based professional services for custom work, plus one-time catalog product sales and managed-services revenue from cGMP manufacturing. Pricing is quote-based; PepTech does not list public pricing and relies on a 'Request a Quote' workflow capturing product, quantity, purity, and timeline specifications. Go-to-market is sales-led direct B2B engagement with content marketing support via an Amino Acid Reference Library, downloadable catalogs, and structure/product search tools. Both the Shanghai R&D Center and the Dalian Manufacturing Plant operate under ISO 9001-certified quality systems, and the Supor JV provides FDA-certified cGMP capacity. The company is bootstrapped, has never raised outside funding, and remains founder-owned and operated.

PepTech reports serving over 1,000 customers with approximately 300 chemists, of whom ~200 are dedicated to discovery services. Headcount of 101-250 is reported in firmographic data, though operational references suggest a larger chemist base. The leadership team is led by Founder and President James Ma, Ph.D. (University of Louisville, Dean's Citation for Excellence) and General Manager Xiaowen Sun, Ph.D. (Lanzhou University; postdoctoral research at Scripps Research Institute under K.C. Nicolaou; 14 years' experience across France, UK, and US, including five years of medicinal chemistry research at Abraxis BioScience).

Name

PepTech Corporation

Legal name

PepTech Corporation

Website

https://peptechcorp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

PepTech Corporation is a privately held chemistry services provider founded in 1994, offering custom synthesis, medicinal chemistry, process R&D, and cGMP drug substance manufacturing to pharmaceutical and biotech customers across the US, Europe, and Japan, supported by a catalog of over 5,000 specialty amino acids and building blocks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bedford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Synthesis Services: Project-based or FTE arrangements for custom synthesis from milligrams to kilograms, including medicinal chemistry, lead optimization, and library synthesis
2. Process R&D Services: Route scouting, process optimization, analytical development, and scale-up services for clients advancing compounds toward clinical trials
3. Catalog Product Sales: Over 5000 specialty compounds in stock including specialty amino acids, chiral building blocks, protected amino acid derivatives, and heterocyclic compounds sold as catalog items
4. Drug Substance Manufacturing: cGMP manufacture of intermediates and APIs through joint venture with Supor (FDA certified) and GMP production at PepTech supporting up to 1MT scale

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

PepTech Corporation is a chemistry services company that delivers custom synthesis of specialty amino acids, chiral building blocks, and complex intermediates for pharmaceutical and biotech drug discovery programs. It provides integrated services spanning discovery chemistry, medicinal chemistry support, process R&D and scale-up, and cGMP drug substance manufacturing through a JV with Supor, supported by a catalog of over 5,000 in-stock compounds.

Product overview

PepTech Corporation offers a unified chemistry services platform spanning the full pharmaceutical development lifecycle from discovery through commercial manufacturing. The core offerings include Discovery Services (custom synthesis, medicinal chemistry, SAR analysis), Process Research & Development (route scouting, optimization, scale-up), and Drug Substance Manufacturing (cGMP API production). The product portfolio is anchored by a Specialty Amino Acids Catalog featuring over 5,000 compounds including chiral building blocks, protected amino acid derivatives, and custom analogues, accessible through structure search and product search tools. This integrated approach enables seamless transitions from early discovery through large-scale production, supported by ISO 9001 certified R&D (Shanghai) and manufacturing (Dalian) facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Synthesis

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1000 customers serviced worldwide
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SuporcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture with Supor (FDA certified) to support cGMP manufacture of APIs. Supor's FDA-certified facility complements PepTech's capabilities, enabling the partnership to offer comprehensive drug substance manufacturing services from discovery through commercial scale.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Combi-Blocks: Combi-Blocks is a US-based specialty building blocks supplier with a large catalog of amino acids, heterocycles, and chiral compounds — directly overlapping PepTech's 5,000+ specialty amino acids and building blocks catalog business.
• IRIS Biotech: IRIS Biotech is a Germany-based specialty supplier of amino acid derivatives, peptide building blocks, and chiral compounds — a direct catalog competitor to PepTech in specialty amino acids and protected derivatives.
• ChemPartner: ChemPartner (Shanghai) is a China-based CRO/CDMO offering medicinal chemistry, custom synthesis, and process development services to pharma and biotech, directly competing with PepTech's discovery and process R&D offerings.
• Shanghai Medicilon: Shanghai Medicilon is a China-based preclinical CRO/CDMO offering medicinal chemistry, custom synthesis, and process development — a direct competitor to PepTech in FTE-based discovery chemistry and specialty building blocks supply.
• Asymchem Laboratories: Asymchem is a leading China-based CDMO specializing in custom synthesis, process R&D, and cGMP API manufacturing for global pharma — a close direct competitor in PepTech's core chiral and complex chemistry niche.
• WuXi STA (WuXi AppTec subsidiary): WuXi STA is the small-molecule CDMO arm of WuXi AppTec, providing custom synthesis, process R&D, and cGMP API manufacturing — directly overlapping PepTech's Supor-JV-backed API manufacturing capability and process R&D services.
• Pharmaron: Pharmaron is a global CRO/CDMO with integrated drug discovery, process chemistry, and GMP manufacturing — competing head-to-head with PepTech across discovery services, custom synthesis, and API scale-up.
• WuXi AppTec: WuXi AppTec is the largest China-based CRO/CDMO offering end-to-end discovery, process R&D, and cGMP manufacturing for small molecules — directly overlapping PepTech's full service stack and customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Bachem: Bachem is a leading peptide and oligonucleotide CDMO with deep specialty amino acid chemistry expertise and GMP manufacturing — overlapping PepTech's protected amino acids catalog and chiral chemistry work at much larger scale.
• Sigma-Aldrich (Merck Life Science): Sigma-Aldrich/Merck KGaA operates the world's largest specialty chemicals and building blocks catalog, directly competing with PepTech's 5,000+ catalog of specialty amino acids and chiral building blocks across pharma and academic customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 PepTech Corporation