What Smartox Biotechnology does

Smartox Biotechnology is a France-based, privately-held biotechnology company (SAS, registered capital €172,669) headquartered in Sainte-Égrève that specializes in investigating animal venom properties and manufacturing peptide toxins derived from venoms of snakes, spiders, scorpions, cone snails, centipedes, and fishes. Its core technology is the isolation, characterization, and chemical synthesis of constrained venom peptides that target ion channels (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride), GPCRs, and integrins, with particular expertise in engineering complex disulfide-rich scaffolds. The company's flagship asset is the VenomScreen library, a proprietary collection of 35,000+ constrained peptides prepared from natural venoms for high-throughput screening (HTS) drug discovery, underpinned by over 100 sequenced venom peptides and a hit-identification workflow that includes sequencing, synthesis, and chemical optimization capabilities.

The company operates three revenue streams: (1) catalog peptide toxin sales (research reagents priced €55-€2,000+ per unit depending on complexity and quantity), (2) custom peptide synthesis services for both simple and complex venom peptides, and (3) VenomScreen-based drug discovery collaboration services, including hit-to-lead development for human and veterinary drugs, diagnostic tools, peptide-drug conjugates, insecticides, and cosmetics. It serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies alongside academic and research institutions through direct enterprise sales complemented by a network of regional distributors across Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India).

Commercial validation includes named strategic collaborations with Sanofi (drug discovery), Xenon Pharmaceuticals (ion channel therapeutics), and Bayer (agricultural and pharmaceutical applications), and an ongoing capital investment program marked by the inauguration of the Smartox_SB-PEPTIDE building and the announced construction of a new peptide manufacturing plant to expand production capacity. The company maintains an 11-50 employee footprint, has no disclosed external funding rounds, and appears to operate as a self-funded, founder-led specialty biotech with deep domain expertise and a defensible proprietary library rather than scale-driven economics.

Name

Smartox Biotechnology

Legal name

SMARTOX BIOTECHNOLOGY

Website

https://smartox-biotech.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Smartox Biotechnology is a French biotech that isolates, characterizes, and synthesizes peptide toxins from animal venoms, offering a proprietary 35,000+ peptide library (VenomScreen) along with custom synthesis and hit-to-lead drug discovery services to pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and academic researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biotechnology Research Services

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Therapeutic Peptides & Protein/Peptide Biologics (HLAAAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Protein Engineering & Directed Evolution Platforms (enzyme/therapeutic protein optimization) (HLAAAIAC), Engineered Protein Therapeutics (de novo/AI-designed proteins, novel scaffolds) (HLAAAAAJ)

Keywords

• Animal venom peptides
• Peptide drug discovery
• Ion channel research reagents
• Custom peptide synthesis
• Venom-derived therapeutics

Headquarters

HQ city

Sainte-Égrève

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

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. Peptide Toxin Product Sales: Sale of catalog peptide toxins for ion channel research. Products are sold in various quantities with prices ranging from approximately €55 to over €2,000 depending on the peptide complexity and quantity. Customers include pharmaceutical researchers, academic institutions, and biotech companies.
2. Custom Peptide Synthesis Services: Specialist synthesis services for simple as well as complex peptides. The company offers custom toxin manufacturing based on customer specifications for their research needs.
3. VenomScreen Drug Discovery Services: Hit-to-lead services combining the VenomScreen compound library for HTS programs with hit-to-lead development services. The company collaborates with worldwide pharmaceutical companies on drug discovery programs targeting human or veterinary drugs, diagnostic tools, peptide-drug conjugates, insecticides, or cosmetics.
4. Analytical Services: Analytical services supporting peptide characterization and sequencing for drug discovery programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Smartox Biotechnology isolates, characterizes, and synthesizes peptide toxins from animal venoms (snakes, spiders, scorpions, cone snails, centipedes, fishes) for ion channel research and drug discovery applications. The company sells a catalog of off-the-shelf peptide toxins targeting ion channels, GPCRs, and integrins, provides custom peptide synthesis services, and offers the VenomScreen library of 35,000+ constrained peptides for high-throughput screening drug discovery collaborations with pharmaceutical partners.

Product overview

Smartox Biotechnology is a specialized biotechnology company focused on animal venom research and peptide drug discovery. The company operates two core product lines: VenomScreen, a unique library of 35,000+ constrained peptides from natural venoms used for high-throughput screening drug discovery programs, and the Toxin Catalog, offering animal peptide toxins targeting ion channels (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride), GPCRs, and integrins. These are supported by three key services: Peptide Synthesis for custom peptide manufacturing, Custom Toxin development, and Hit-to-Lead Services including analytical studies, amino acid sequencing, and chemical engineering for peptide optimization. The portfolio includes analytical services for hit characterization. The company collaborates with pharmaceutical partners worldwide to discover promising human or veterinary drugs, diagnostic tools, peptide-drug conjugates, insecticides, and cosmetics from venom-derived compounds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VenomScreen Library A unique compound library of 35,000+ constrained peptides prepared from natural venoms, used by pharmaceutical and biotech partners for high-throughput screening (HTS) drug discovery programs targeting ion channels, GPCRs, and integrins.
• Toxin Catalog Off-the-shelf catalog of animal peptide toxins (blockers, activators, agonists, antagonists) targeting sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride channels, GPCRs, and integrins. Sold in quantified units to researchers.
• Custom Toxin Service Custom toxin development services manufacturing venom-derived peptide toxins to customer specifications, including amino-acid mutation, conjugation, cyclization, and optimization of stability, bioavailability, toxicity, and immunogenicity.
• Peptide Synthesis Service Specialist synthesis services for simple and complex peptides, including expertise in chemical engineering of venom peptide toxins with multiple disulfide bridges and folding requirements.
• Hit-to-Lead Drug Discovery Service Drug discovery collaboration services using the VenomScreen library for HTS screening, combined with hit follow-up studies, amino acid sequencing, and chemical engineering for peptide optimization. Targets human/veterinary drugs, diagnostic tools, peptide-drug conjugates, insecticides, and cosmetics.
• Analytical Services Analytical services supporting peptide characterization and amino acid sequencing for drug discovery programs, including hit identification from screening campaigns.

Quantifiable outcome

• VenomScreen library contains 35,000+ constrained peptides from natural venoms
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SanoficoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmartox Biotechnology and Sanofi collaboration on animal venoms for drug discovery. The partnership leverages Smartox's venom-derived peptide expertise and Sanofi pharmaceutical development capabilities.
• Xenon PharmaceuticalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmartox Biotechnology and Xenon Pharmaceuticals collaboration focused on ion channel drug discovery using venom-derived peptides. Xenon specializes in voltage-gated ion channel therapeutics.
• BayercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmartox Biotechnology and Bayer collaboration on animal venoms for agricultural and pharmaceutical applications. Joint research utilizing Bayer's crop science and pharmaceutical capabilities with Smartox's venom peptide library.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smartox
• Xx.com/smartoxbiotech

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 Smartox Biotechnology