Taros
Taros is a German contract research organization (CRO) founded in 1999 that delivers discovery chemistry, custom synthesis, and process development services—from lab to kg/pilot scale—to pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and materials science companies worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersDortmund, Germany
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Taros does
Taros is a German contract research organization (CRO) headquartered in Dortmund at the Biomedical Center on the Dortmund Technology and Science Campus. Founded in 1999 and operating as Taros Chemicals GmbH & Co. KG, the firm delivers discovery chemistry, custom synthesis, and process development services from laboratory to kg/pilot scale to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, cosmetics, materials science, and display-technology clients worldwide. The company runs three service divisions: Drug Discovery (medicinal chemistry, targeted protein degradation / PROTACs, oligonucleotide therapeutics, parallel chemistry and compound libraries, computational chemistry, custom peptide synthesis), Material Science (polymer chemistry, circular economy and green chemistry applications), and Chemical Services (custom synthesis, process development, custom manufacturing, flow chemistry, analytical chemistry, and nitrosamine impurity reference standards).
Taros monetizes exclusively through project-based contract research and custom synthesis engagements. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, reflecting the highly customized nature of each project; revenue is generated from professional services fees tied to molecular complexity, scale (lab to kg/pilot), and duration. The go-to-market is sales-led and field-driven, targeting enterprise R&D buyers (medicinal chemists, R&D directors, procurement) at large pharmaceutical and biotech firms, specialty chemical companies, and research institutes. The company reaches buyers primarily through direct enterprise engagement, presence at major industry conferences (e.g., BIO-Europe, Drug Discovery Chemistry, Chemspec Europe, in-cosmetics Global, European Coatings Show), webinars, scientific publications, and its website. Taros also participates in collaborative networks including the European Lead Factory (where it heads the chemistry consortium), the Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund (DDHD), and several EU-funded research consortia (CARDIOMYO, Dual2PET, INTEGRATE, OPTIBIOCAT).
Underlying technical capabilities span medicinal chemistry, organic and organometallic synthesis including polymers, flow chemistry, computational chemistry and molecular modeling, and analytical chemistry. The firm maintains a proprietary library of 30,000 drug-like compounds with engineered 3D character, and through its ELF role has contributed to a public collection of more than 300,000 screening compounds. The workforce is highly credentialed, with approximately 65% of staff holding Ph.D. degrees and the team collectively combining 180+ years of industrial organic chemistry experience with 60+ years of medicinal chemistry experience from major pharma and biotech organizations. Headcount is reported in the 101–250 range and the company has completed 13,000+ synthesis and process chemistry projects since inception.
Taros firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Taros
- Legal name
- Taros Chemicals GmbH & Co. KG
- Website
- https://tarosdiscovery.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Taros is a German contract research organization (CRO) founded in 1999 that delivers discovery chemistry, custom synthesis, and process development services—from lab to kg/pilot scale—to pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and materials science companies worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Taros industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Contract Research & Drug Discovery Services
- NAICS
- Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Preclinical CROs (Discovery/Pharmacology/DMPK) (HLAGAAAB)
Keywords
Where Taros is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Dortmund
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Taros business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Contract Research Services: Taros generates revenue through contract research agreements with pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and materials science companies. Services include discovery chemistry, custom synthesis, process development, and analytical chemistry. Projects range from early-stage research to kg/pilot scale manufacturing.
- Custom Synthesis and Manufacturing: Tailored production of specific chemical compounds based on unique client requirements, spanning from lab scale to pilot and kg-scale quantities. Revenue is project-based, driven by molecular complexity and scale requirements.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Taros product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Taros is a contract research organization (CRO) providing discovery chemistry, custom synthesis, and process development services from laboratory to kg/pilot scale for global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical industry clients. The company delivers three integrated service divisions—Drug Discovery, Material Science, and Chemical Services—alongside a standalone Flow Chemistry offering, with capabilities spanning medicinal chemistry, PROTAC/targeted protein degradation, oligonucleotide and peptide therapeutics, polymer and green chemistry, and analytical/nitrosamine reference standards.
Product overview
Taros is a contract research organization (CRO) based in Dortmund, Germany, offering three main service divisions: Drug Discovery, Material Science, and Chemical Services. The Drug Discovery division provides medicinal chemistry, targeted protein degradation, oligonucleotide therapeutics, parallel chemistry and compound libraries (including a proprietary 30,000-compound library), computational chemistry, and custom peptide synthesis. Material Science encompasses polymer chemistry and green chemistry applications. Chemical Services includes custom synthesis, process development, custom manufacturing, flow chemistry, analytical chemistry, and nitrosamine impurity reference standards. All services are delivered through experienced chemists with 65% holding Ph.D. degrees, supporting pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and research clients from early discovery through scale-up.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Drug Discovery
Quantifiable outcome
- 13,000+ synthesis, research and process chemistry projects successfully delivered to a global customer base
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Taros
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Taros technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Taros partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Serengen GmbHcoreTaros co-hosted a live webinar with Serengen GmbH on DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) drug discovery. Serengen, led by CEO Dr. Thorsten Genski, specializes in advanced DEL technology combined with artificial intelligence for lead generation. The collaboration leverages Taros's medicinal chemistry expertise with Serengen's DEL capabilities.
- Ehrfeld MikrotechnikcoreTaros and Ehrfeld entered a combined market offering for early-stage flow chemistry implementation. Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik, a leading provider of micro reactor technology, partnered with Taros to make flow chemistry more accessible to clients seeking to integrate flow chemistry capabilities into their R&D and manufacturing workflows.
- CARDIOMYO ConsortiumcoreCARDIOMYO is a European consortium for accelerating drug discovery in cardiomyopathies. The consortium was awarded a budget of 2.4 million EUR from the EUREKA-EUROSTARS innovation program. Taros participates as a chemistry partner contributing synthetic expertise.
- Dual2PET Research ConsortiumcoreA consortium including Grünenthal and Taros Chemicals along with three research groups from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) at Forschungszentrum Jülich applied Positron Emission Tomography (PET) as an imaging technique, with Taros contributing chemistry expertise.
- European Lead Factory (ELF)coreTaros is an executive member and head of the chemistry consortium of the European Lead Factory, a collaborative platform combining assets and experience of major pharma companies with the innovation of universities and SMEs. The consortium developed the ELF public compound collection of more than 300,000 novel and lead-like screening compounds involving seven companies and ten academic groups across Europe.
- Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund (DDHD)coreTaros is a partner of the Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund, which unites all key players in early drug discovery in North Rhine-Westphalia in a joint project. DDHD serves as an incubator for drug discovery projects and is funded through the NRW Research Infrastructures Program with support from ERDF.
- BioDeutschland e.V.minorTaros holds membership in BioDeutschland e.V., Germany's biotechnology industry association, providing networking and advocacy within the German biotech ecosystem.
- Bio.NRWminorTaros is a member of Bio.NRW, the biotechnology cluster of North Rhine-Westphalia, supporting regional biotech collaboration and innovation.
- OPTIBIOCATminorTaros participates in the OPTIBIOCAT consortium, focused on training network activities related to biocatalysis and enzyme engineering.
- INTEGRATEminorTaros is a partner in INTEGRATE (Interdisciplinary Training Network for Validation of Gram-Negative Antibacterial Targets), an EU-funded training network focused on antibacterial research.
- CLIB21 (Cluster of Industrial Biotechnology 2021)minorTaros holds membership in CLIB21, the industrial biotechnology cluster, fostering collaboration in industrial biotechnology across the science and business communities.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Taros competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Selvita S.A. Selvita is a Polish-listed CRO providing medicinal chemistry, custom synthesis, and biology services to pharma and biotech clients. It is a comparable European mid-sized discovery CRO with overlapping service offerings and customer segments.
- BioAscent Discovery: BioAscent is a Scottish-based discovery CRO focused on medicinal chemistry and compound management. It is a smaller, niche European discovery CRO closely comparable to Taros in service focus and customer profile.
- Sygnature Discovery: Sygnature is a UK-based medicinal chemistry and drug discovery CRO offering hit identification, lead optimization, and custom synthesis - the same core service stack Taros provides, making it a tight like-for-like comparable in size and capability.
- Evotec SE: Evotec is a Hamburg-based discovery and preclinical CRO with broad medicinal chemistry, biology, and integrated drug discovery services - the closest large direct peer to Taros in the European discovery CRO segment. Like Taros, it serves pharma and biotech with contract research and consortium partnerships.
- Concept Life Sciences: Concept Life Sciences is a UK-based discovery CRO offering medicinal chemistry, custom synthesis, and ADME/PK services to pharma and biotech - directly comparable in service mix and target customer base to Taros.
Broad incumbents
- WuXi AppTec: WuXi is the world's largest chemistry and discovery CRO, providing medicinal chemistry, custom synthesis, and process R&D at global scale. It competes with Taros for pharma custom synthesis and discovery work, though at a fundamentally different scale.
- Eurofins Discovery: Eurofins Discovery provides contract research services spanning medicinal chemistry, compound libraries, in vitro ADME, and pharmacology. As part of the larger Eurofins group, it is a broad incumbent overlapping with Taros's discovery chemistry, screening, and custom synthesis offerings.
- Charles River Laboratories: Charles River is a global, full-service CRO offering discovery, safety assessment, and manufacturing services with significant medicinal chemistry capacity. It competes with Taros for large-pharma medicinal chemistry and discovery outsourcing, though at materially greater scale and broader service scope.
- Pharmaron: Pharmaron is a China- and UK-headquartered CRO with integrated medicinal chemistry, DMPK, and process chemistry services globally. It competes with Taros for outsourced drug discovery and custom synthesis, supported by a much larger lab footprint and end-to-end offering.
Emerging players
- Enamine Ltd. Enamine is a Ukraine-based chemistry CRO known for its very large screening compound library and custom synthesis capabilities. It overlaps with Taros's compound library and custom synthesis offerings, particularly in early-stage hit-identification services.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Taros social profiles
Digital presenceTaros compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Taros financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Taros leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Taros funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Taros 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 Taros
What does Taros do?
Taros is a contract research organization (CRO) providing discovery chemistry, custom synthesis, and process development services from laboratory to kg/pilot scale for global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical industry clients. The company delivers three integrated service divisions—Drug Discovery, Material Science, and Chemical Services—alongside a standalone Flow Chemistry offering, with capabilities spanning medicinal chemistry, PROTAC/targeted protein degradation, oligonucleotide and peptide therapeutics, polymer and green chemistry, and analytical/nitrosamine reference standards.
Is Taros a public or private company?
Taros is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Taros founded?
Taros was founded in 1999. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Taros based?
Taros is headquartered in Dortmund, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Taros make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Contract Research Services are the primary driver. The others are custom Synthesis and Manufacturing.
Who are Taros's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Selvita S.A., BioAscent Discovery, Sygnature Discovery, Evotec SE and Concept Life Sciences. Broad incumbents are WuXi AppTec, Eurofins Discovery, Charles River Laboratories and Pharmaron. Enamine Ltd. is listed as an emerging player.
Does Taros have an API?
No public API is recorded for Taros.
What industry is Taros in?
Taros's product category is Contract Research & Drug Discovery Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAAAB, Preclinical CROs (Discovery/Pharmacology/DMPK). Its NAICS code is 5417 and its SIC code is 8731.