Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles

What Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles does

ICSN (Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles) is a French public research laboratory operating as a unit of CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) on the CNRS campus in Gif-sur-Yvette, on the edge of the future Paris-Saclay campus, which is targeted to concentrate approximately 10% of French research. With roughly 200 personnel, the institute is organised into four research departments — Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry, Synthetic Organic and Catalytic Methods, Chemical Biology, and Structural and Analytical Chemistry & Biology — and operates at the chemistry-biology interface with natural substances as its primary study object. Its core scientific assets are the Extractothèque ICSN (the largest French public collection of natural extracts: 14,000+ extracts from 6,500 plants across 220 botanical families) and the Souchothèque (3,000+ symbiotic microbial strains held in triplicate at −80°C with GenBank-integrated metadata). It also operates a stack of IBiSA-certified analytical and screening platforms — CIBI (HTS, in cellulo and in ovo CAM assays), CTPF (Thermal Shift Assay), NMR (including the high-field RMNHC@UPSay), HPLC-MS/SFC, X-ray crystallography, molecular modelling, quantitative PCR, chemical library, and custom organic synthesis — that together cover extraction through bioactivity characterization under one roof.

ICSN's customers are primarily academic and public-sector research institutions (e.g., Rega Institute Belgium, Institut Gustave Roussy, Université de Genève, Université de la Réunion, Aix-Marseille), with secondary commercial engagement from pharmaceutical/biotech and cosmetics companies via licensing of its patent portfolio (11 granted WO patents spanning anticancer tubulin/HDAC inhibitors, SIRT1 activators, antiviral agents, and cosmetic tetrapeptides). Revenue mechanics blend four channels: (i) French public funding via CNRS allocations, ANR grants, Labex/IdEx programmes (charmmmat, ceba, lermit), and European funding; (ii) paid service contracts for analytical and screening platforms, with tiered CNRS/academic vs. private-company pricing validated by CNRS filings; (iii) bilateral collaborative research contracts with public and private partners; and (iv) licensing/royalty income from the patented bioactive compounds. Go-to-market is principally community-led and publication-driven — academic channels, conferences (e.g., the Pierre Potier Symposium), and the Plug in Labs Paris-Saclay platform — rather than commercial sales. The institute does not have external investors, is not publicly traded, and discloses no consolidated revenue.

The institute's distinctive structural features are: deep integration into the CNRS–Université Paris-Saclay ecosystem and the Criblage@ParisSaclay (C@PS) screening network; thirty years of accumulated, biodiversity-rich extract and strain libraries with associated metadata that would be costly to replicate; an integrated lab-to-pilot value chain spanning plant collection, chemistry, screening, structural biology, and patenting; and a record of national recognition for individual researchers (CNRS Cristal Medals in 2016 and 2026, CNRS Bronze Medal in 2026) that sustains its pipeline of talent and collaborations.

Name

Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles

Legal name

Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles

Website

https://icsn.cnrs.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ICSN is a CNRS research laboratory in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, that operates the country's largest public collection of natural extracts and microbial strains, supporting drug discovery and chemical-biology research for academic, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics partners via integrated analytical and screening platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pharmaceutical Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690)

akta.pro primary industry

Elemental Impurities & Trace Metals (ICP-MS) (HLAGADAJ)

Keywords

• Natural products chemistry
• Drug discovery services
• Analytical chemistry platforms
• Bioactive compound screening
• Medicinal chemistry research

Headquarters

HQ city

Gif-sur-Yvette

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Services and Platform Access: Academic research institute providing analytical and screening services to academic institutions and private companies through service contracts, research collaborations, and platform access agreements. Revenue derived from service fees for screening, thermal shift assays, and other analytical services to non-CNRS entities.
2. Licensing and Industrial Partnerships: Patented technologies and bioactive compounds available for licensing to pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies. Multiple patents covering anticancer agents, tubulin inhibitors, and cosmetic applications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ICSN is a French public research institute operating under CNRS, focused on natural products chemistry and drug discovery. The institute operates multiple specialized research platforms (CTPF, CIBI, Extractothèque with 14,000+ extracts, Souchothèque with 3,000 microbial strains) and advanced analytical platforms (NMR, HPLC-MS, X-ray crystallography) to support chemical biology, natural substances research, and bioactive compound identification.

Product overview

Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN) is a research institute within CNRS and Paris-Saclay University, comprising four research departments (Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry, Synthesis and Catalytic Methods, Chemical Biology, and Analytical/Structural Chemistry and Biology) and multiple scientific platforms. The institute operates at the chemistry-biology interface, focusing on natural substances as study objects and primary inspiration. Key platform offerings include: CTPF (Thermal Shift Assay) for protein stability screening using fluorescent dyes; CIBI for bio-active compound screening including HTS, in vitro/in cellulo validation, and in ovo assays; Extractothèque containing over 14,000 natural extracts from 6,500 plants; Souchothèque with 3,000 microbial strains; and analytical platforms for NMR, HPLC-MS/SFC, X-ray crystallography, molecular modeling, and quantitative PCR. The institute also maintains a Chemical Library and provides organic synthesis services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CTPF (Plateforme Criblage Thermofluor) Thermal Shift Assay platform for protein stability and ligand-binding studies, supporting drug discovery and chemical biology research for academic and industrial partners.
• CIBI (Plateforme de Criblage BioMoléculaire) Bioactive compound screening platform that identifies and characterizes biologically active molecules from natural sources for academic and industrial users.
• Extractothèque A natural extract library comprising more than 14,000 plant, fungal, and marine extracts made available for screening and collaborative research.
• Souchothèque A microbial strain library of 3,000 microorganisms maintained and provided for biotechnological, pharmaceutical, and academic research applications.
• Analytical Chemistry Platform Integrated analytical services including NMR, HPLC-MS, and X-ray crystallography for structural elucidation and chemical characterization of natural substances.
• Plug in Labs Collaborative Program Collaborative research engagement program connecting ICSN's expertise and platforms with industrial and academic partners for joint drug discovery projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 11 patents filed covering anticancer, anti-infective, and cosmetic applications
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Criblage@ParisSaclay (C@PS)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2018IBiSA-labeled screening platform network including CCCHD (CEA), CIBI (ICSN-CNRS), and CIBLOT (Université Paris-Sud) for collaborative screening services.
• Rega Institute (Belgium)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for biological assays and mechanism of action studies, particularly in antiviral compound development against dengue and chikungunya viruses.
• AFMB, Université d'Aix MarseillecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration in biological evaluation and mechanistic studies of bioactive compounds.
• Institut Gustave RoussycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for cancer research and therapeutic development, including studies on apoptosis-targeting compounds.
• Université de GenèvecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMetabolomics research collaboration with the Wolfender laboratory, contributing to analytical chemistry development.
• IPMC Sophia AntipoliscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with B. Antonny and B. Mesmin on lipid-binding proteins and oxysterol-binding protein research.
• Faculté de Pharmacie d'AngerssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research related to the valorization of the ICSN Extractothèque, with P. Richomme and S. Derbré.
• Faculté de Pharmacie Paris VsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for extractothèque research with X. Cachet, R. Grougnet, and M. Kritsanida.
• Université de la RéunionsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with A. Bialecki and C. El Kalamouni for Indian Ocean biodiversity research.
• Labex charmmmatsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaboratory of Excellence focused on chemistry of materials, interfaces, and thin films, part of the Labex network.
• Labex cebasecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaboratory of Excellence in biology focused on biodiversity and ecosystem function research.
• Labex lermitsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaboratory of Excellence in medicinal chemistry research.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• WuXi AppTec: Global CRO/CDMO with extensive natural-product, medicinal-chemistry, and screening service offerings across drug discovery. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the outsourced drug-discovery services market.
• Charles River Laboratories: Global CRO providing discovery and safety-assessment services including compound management, in vitro screening, and structural biology. Comparable as a full-service discovery CRO with overlapping analytical and screening platform infrastructure.
• Evotec (Natural Products / CureXcel unit): Global CRO with natural-product-derived drug-discovery services, HTS infrastructure, and compound management. Comparable as a broader drug-discovery service provider with overlapping screening and medicinal-chemistry offerings.
• Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology / Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology: German public research institute focused on chemical ecology and natural-product biosynthesis. Comparable as a publicly funded natural-products chemistry institute with biodiversity-based screening programs and academic licensing.

Direct peers

• Institut Pasteur: French public life-sciences research institute combining biology, chemistry, and translational research with platform infrastructure for infectious-disease and therapeutic discovery. Comparable as a French public-sector R&D institute with platform-access and collaboration-driven revenue model.
• AnalytiCon Discovery: Germany-based natural-products CRO offering extract/fraction libraries, HTS hit identification, and medicinal-chemistry optimization for pharma and cosmetics. Direct comparable in the natural-products library plus services business model.
• NAICONS: French natural-products discovery company operating one of the world's largest microbial strain collections for antibiotic and bioactive screening, with integrated HTS capabilities. Direct comparable in the natural-products CRO/library space serving pharma clients.

Others

• Sederma (Croda Beauty): French-based active-ingredient manufacturer for cosmetics with natural-peptide and bioactives portfolio, including tetrapeptide-based products. Comparable as a downstream commercialization channel for ICSN's tetrapeptide cosmetic patents (WO 2006/008392, WO 2006/087363).

Emerging players

• Novobiotic Pharmaceuticals: US-based natural-products discovery company leveraging uncultured bacterial diversity for novel antibiotic programs. Comparable as an emerging player in microbial natural-products drug discovery with platform-driven business model.

Regional players

• Pierre Fabre Laboratories: French pharmaceutical and dermo-cosmetics company with active natural-products R&D programs and prior licensing relationships with French academic chemistry labs. Comparable as a regional French counterpart that commercializes natural-products IP from public-sector research.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/institut-de-chimie-des-substances-naturelles

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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