AnalytiCon Discovery
AnalytiCon Discovery is a Potsdam, Germany-based natural product research firm and division of BRAIN Biotech AG that provides screening compound libraries, contract discovery services, and collaborative R&D programs to pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage, and agriculture companies worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersPotsdam, Germany
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What AnalytiCon Discovery does
AnalytiCon Discovery is a natural product research and development organization serving pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage, and agriculture companies. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Potsdam, Germany, the company operates as a division of publicly listed BRAIN Biotech AG, with approximately 65 employees across its German headquarters and a North American business development presence in the Gaithersburg/Rockville, MD area. The company monetizes through sales of screening compound libraries, contract discovery services, and collaborative R&D programs structured around defined commercial outcomes.
The company's technology backbone is a high-throughput isolation platform that combines extraction, individually optimized column chromatography, HPLC-MS and NMR analytics, and a proprietary data management system, supported by complementary liquid, solid, and membrane (biofilm) fermentation systems. Its biological assets include an in-house strain collection of 25,000 microorganisms (actinomycetes, myxobacteria, endophytic fungi) and 20,000 plant partitions representing diverse geological and climatic origins. Productized outputs include the MEGx isolated natural products library, the NATx synthetic natural product motif library, the MACROx macrocyclic compounds library, and specialized sub-libraries such as Polyphenols and Flavonoids. Service offerings span target-to-lead discovery, biological profiling against GPCRs, protein kinases, and protein-protein interactions, and medicinal chemistry optimization with fermentation scale-up from 10L to 200-1000L.
The business model is multi-stream. One-time library licensing covers MEGx, NATx, MACROx, and sub-libraries delivered in .sdf format. Contract research services cover natural product chemistry, medicinal chemistry, total synthesis, and biological profiling under quote-based pricing. Collaborative R&D programs, such as DOLCE (natural sweetening solutions with Roquette) and FRESCO (nature-based preservation ingredients), are structured around co-development and licensing economics. The customer base spans large pharmaceutical groups (J&J, Merck KGaA, Boehringer Ingelheim, Schering-Plough, Roche, Pharvaris, Bionaut Pharmaceuticals, Memorial Sloan-Kettering), consumer-facing companies (Symrise, Roquette, Kyowa Hakko), and more than 100 ongoing client relationships globally, with direct sales in Europe and North America and distribution partners in China (J&K Scientific) and Japan (Namiki Shoji).
AnalytiCon Discovery firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AnalytiCon Discovery
- Legal name
- AnalytiCon Discovery – a Division of BRAIN Biotech AG
- Website
- https://ac-discovery.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- AnalytiCon Discovery is a Potsdam, Germany-based natural product research firm and division of BRAIN Biotech AG that provides screening compound libraries, contract discovery services, and collaborative R&D programs to pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage, and agriculture companies worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AnalytiCon Discovery industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Natural Product Drug Discovery Services
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
- SIC
- Medicinal Chemicals & Botanical Products (2833), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Library & Diversity Generation Platforms (display libraries, DNA-encoded libraries for biologics, variant libraries) (HLAAAIAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- CMC & Pharmaceutical Development (Formulation/Process/Analytical Development) (HLAIALAD), Chiral / Asymmetric Synthesis & Complex Chemistry Services (HLAGAHAE)
Keywords
Where AnalytiCon Discovery is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Potsdam
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
AnalytiCon Discovery business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Screening Library Sales: Sale of compound libraries including MEGx (isolated natural products), NATx (synthetic NP motifs), MACROx (macrocyclic compounds), and specialized sub-libraries for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and nutritional research.
- Contract Research Services: Early drug discovery and discovery chemistry services including natural product chemistry, target-to-lead discovery, medicinal chemistry optimization, total synthesis, and biological profiling.
- Collaborative R&D Partnerships: Joint development programs with pharmaceutical and food companies such as DOLCE (with Roquette for natural sweetening solutions) and FRESCO (for nature-based preservation ingredients).
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
AnalytiCon Discovery product offering
Product offeringCore offering
AnalytiCon Discovery develops, produces, and sells natural product screening compound libraries (MEGx isolated natural products, NATx synthetic NP motifs, MACROx macrocyclic compounds) and provides contract research services covering natural product chemistry, target-to-lead discovery, medicinal chemistry optimization, total synthesis, fermentation, and biological profiling. The offering serves pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage, and agriculture customers seeking novel starting points from microbial and plant-derived sources.
Product overview
AnalytiCon Discovery is a BRAIN Group company specializing in natural products for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, nutrition, and agriculture sectors. The company operates as a research and development organization covering the full spectrum from establishing substance libraries, identifying active ingredients, and synthetically optimizing them to production on commercial scale. Their core product portfolio consists of three main screening compound libraries: MEGx (isolated natural products of microbial or plant origin), NATx (synthetic compounds based on natural product motifs), and MACROx (next generation macrocyclic compounds). These are complemented by specialized sub-libraries including Polyphenols and Flavonoids and Natural Macrocyclic Compounds. The company also operates collaborative programs including DOLCE (natural sugar/calorie reduction) and FRESCO (nature-based preservation ingredients), alongside technology platforms for high-throughput isolation, fermentation, biological profiling, and medicinal chemistry optimization.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- MEGx – Isolated Natural Products
- NATx – Synthetic Natural Product Motifs Synthetic compounds based on natural product motifs designed for drug discovery, available to pharmaceutical research customers.
- MACROx – Next Generation Macrocycles Library of natural medium ring and macrocyclic compounds with ring sizes 8-35 atoms from plant and microbial sources, covering bioactivities from nematicidal to antibacterial to cytostatic.
- Polyphenols and Flavonoids Sub-Library Sub-library of over 300 plant-derived pure natural product compounds from the polyphenols and flavonoids classes, offered pre-plated for biological evaluation.
- Natural Macrocyclic Compounds Sub-Library Sub-library of natural medium ring and macrocyclic compounds with ring sizes 8-35 from plant and microbial sources covering broad bioactivity indications.
- Biological Profiling Services Target-to-lead discovery services using cell-based and biochemical assays addressing G-protein-coupled receptors, protein kinases, protein-protein interactions, and phenotypic approaches.
- Fermentation Services State-of-the-art fermentation services including liquid, solid, and membrane (biofilm) fermentation with scale-up capabilities from 10L to 200-1000L.
- Medicinal Chemistry Optimization Medicinal chemistry optimization of natural product hits including total synthesis, structure-activity relationship development, toxicity studies, and scale-up processes.
- High-Throughput Natural Product Isolation Platform Proprietary technology platform enabling high-throughput isolation of pure natural products from extraction through chromatography to HPLC-MS and NMR analytics, delivered as a service.
Companies that use AnalytiCon Discovery
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
AnalytiCon Discovery technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature9 records
AnalytiCon Discovery partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- PharvariscoreExtended collaboration with Pharvaris for natural product research. Pharvaris is developing small molecule bradykinin B2 receptor antagonists.
- Global beverage company (unnamed)minorJoined BRAIN's and AnalytiCon's FRESCO program for nature-based preservation ingredients to address demand for sustainably produced and healthy products, reducing product losses from microbial decay.
- RoquettecoreStrategic partnership for DOLCE program - development of next generation natural sweetening solutions. Roquette joined in 2017 and major milestone achieved March 2018 for natural-based sugar and calorie reduction in food and beverages.
- BRAIN Biotech AGcoreAnalytiCon Discovery has been part of the BRAIN Group since 2013. BRAIN Biotech AG is a leading European industrial biotechnology specialist. All BRAIN Group companies act as independent entities while interconnecting for R&D and production synergies.
- SymrisecoreStrategic partnership for development of innovative new active ingredients for cosmetics. Symrise, BRAIN and AnalytiCon collaboration.
- Merck KGaAcoreCollaboration agreement on natural product lead generation program for pharmaceutical research.
- Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & DevelopmentcoreAnalytiCon provided a highly purified, fully elucidated natural product compound library for J&J's drug discovery programs.
- BioPlanta GmbHminorCooperation in plant-based search for active ingredients using plant-derived natural products.
- EvolvaminorNuclear Receptor Alliance for discovery and development of nuclear receptor modulators.
- Bionaut PharmaceuticalsminorLead optimization collaboration for a novel class of anti-cancer compounds.
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CentercoreDrug discovery collaboration for development of new classes of anti-cancer drugs.
- Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd.coreCollaboration in search of novel drugs based on new compound libraries from hydroxy-prolines.
- Roche VitaminscoreCo-operation for natural product-based drug research with Roche Vitamins division.
- Boehringer IngelheimcoreDelivery of natural product libraries to Boehringer Ingelheim for pharmaceutical research.
- Schering-Plough Research InstitutecoreProvision of MEGAbolite Processing services to Schering-Plough.
- J&K Scientific Ltd.coreChina distributor for AnalytiCon Discovery products, located in Beijing, China. Handles local sales and support for Chinese customers.
- Namiki Shoji Co., Ltd.coreJapan distributor for AnalytiCon Discovery products, located in Tokyo, Japan. Handles local sales and support for Japanese customers.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
AnalytiCon Discovery competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Selvita: Mid-sized European CRO offering integrated drug discovery services including medicinal chemistry and biology. Comparable in scale and service scope to AnalytiCon's contract research offering.
- Hypha Discovery: UK-based CRO specializing in microbial natural product discovery and custom screening library generation for pharma and agrochemical clients. Directly comparable to AnalytiCon in business model, target customers, and natural-product isolation technology.
- Sygnature Discovery: UK-based CRO providing integrated drug discovery including medicinal chemistry, biology, and DMPK to pharma and biotech. Similar mid-sized CRO profile competing for the same type of discovery outsourcing customers.
- Sequoia Sciences: US-based natural product drug discovery company focused on isolating and developing compounds from plants and microbes. Directly comparable niche player in natural-product library generation and early-stage discovery.
Emerging players
- Novobiotic Pharmaceuticals: Emerging biotech applying novel culturing techniques to discover previously uncultivable bacteria for new antibiotics. Overlaps with AnalytiCon's microbial natural-product discovery and novel-mechanism focus, though more therapeutics-oriented.
Broad incumbents
- Charles River Laboratories: Global CRO providing discovery, safety assessment, and manufacturing services to pharma and biotech. Broad incumbent whose discovery services overlap with AnalytiCon's contract research offering, though at much larger scale.
- Evotec: Large publicly listed CRO offering integrated drug discovery services including medicinal chemistry, screening, and CMC across small molecules and biologics. Broad incumbent with overlapping discovery capabilities, though not specialized in natural products.
- Eurofins Discovery: Division of Eurofins Scientific offering drug discovery services including compound libraries, in vitro pharmacology, and ADME. Broad incumbent that sells screening libraries and contract research, overlapping with multiple AnalytiCon offerings.
- WuXi AppTec: China-based global CRO/CDMO offering comprehensive small-molecule discovery, biology, and CMC services. Broad incumbent that competes for pharma service contracts that AnalytiCon also targets.
- WuXi STA: CDMO arm of WuXi AppTec providing process development, API manufacturing, and formulation services. Comparable for the medicinal chemistry optimization and scale-up portions of AnalytiCon's integrated offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
AnalytiCon Discovery social profiles
Digital presenceAnalytiCon Discovery compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
AnalytiCon Discovery financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AnalytiCon Discovery leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
AnalytiCon Discovery funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
AnalytiCon Discovery M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AnalytiCon Discovery
What does AnalytiCon Discovery do?
AnalytiCon Discovery develops, produces, and sells natural product screening compound libraries (MEGx isolated natural products, NATx synthetic NP motifs, MACROx macrocyclic compounds) and provides contract research services covering natural product chemistry, target-to-lead discovery, medicinal chemistry optimization, total synthesis, fermentation, and biological profiling. The offering serves pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage, and agriculture customers seeking novel starting points from microbial and plant-derived sources.
Is AnalytiCon Discovery a public or private company?
AnalytiCon Discovery is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was AnalytiCon Discovery founded?
AnalytiCon Discovery was founded in 2000. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is AnalytiCon Discovery based?
AnalytiCon Discovery is headquartered in Potsdam, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does AnalytiCon Discovery make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Screening Library Sales are the primary driver. The others are contract Research Services and collaborative R&D Partnerships.
Who are AnalytiCon Discovery's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Selvita, Hypha Discovery, Sygnature Discovery and Sequoia Sciences. Novobiotic Pharmaceuticals is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Charles River Laboratories, Evotec, Eurofins Discovery, WuXi AppTec and WuXi STA.
Does AnalytiCon Discovery have an API?
No public API is recorded for AnalytiCon Discovery.
What industry is AnalytiCon Discovery in?
AnalytiCon Discovery's product category is Natural Product Drug Discovery Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAAAIAL, Library & Diversity Generation Platforms (display libraries, DNA-encoded libraries for biologics, variant libraries), with a secondary code of HLAIALAD, CMC & Pharmaceutical Development (Formulation/Process/Analytical Development). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 2833.