SpiroChem has been around for 15 years — what was the original vision, and how has it evolved?
SpiroChem was founded as an ETH Zürich spin-off with a clear focus: tackling complex chemistry that others typically avoid. From the beginning, we prioritised capability over capacity — solving difficult problems rather than scaling routine work.
Over the past 15 years, we have built a highly skilled team of chemists and developed what is today a robust discovery engine for complex molecules. We grew in Basel, expanded internationally with our presence in Canada, and established long-term collaborations with pharma, biotech, and research organisations worldwide.
We didn’t try to be the biggest — we focused on being the best at solving the hardest problems. Over time, that focus compounded into a strong position in areas where chemistry is non-trivial.
What evolved is our understanding of where value truly lies. Chemistry is not the end product — it is a tool. The real impact comes from enabling better decisions in drug discovery: what to design, what to make, and how to move forward efficiently.
At what point did you realise the traditional CRO model was not enough?
This came progressively as the complexity of the projects increased. The traditional CRO model is built around selling time and execution capacity. That works when problems are well defined. It becomes limiting when you are dealing with uncertainty, new modalities, or poorly understood biology.
In many of our projects, the key questions were not “can you make this compound,” but “what should we make next,” “how should we explore this space,” or “how do we reduce risk early.” These are decision-making questions, not execution questions.
At the same time, market dynamics made it clear that competing on cost is a race to the bottom, whereas competing on complexity is a path to differentiation.
That combination led us to evolve our model — from executing predefined work to contributing to how programs are designed and decisions are made.
You describe SpiroChem as a “Partner Research Organization.” What does that mean in practice?
A Partner Research Organization reflects a different way of engaging. Instead of operating purely as a service provider, we work as a partner that contributes to the design, direction, and success of a program. This means being involved earlier, helping define strategies, and staying engaged throughout the decision-making process.
In practice, this can take different forms — from close scientific collaboration to hybrid models that combine fee-for-service with longer-term or platform-based approaches. Part of this approach is also giving partners access — in a structured way — to capabilities and internal frameworks that have been built over many years.
In some cases, this also means taking responsibility for coordinating broader discovery activities beyond chemistry, through a curated network of specialised partners, to ensure coherence at the program level.
The key shift is how success is measured. It is not about hours billed or number of compounds delivered, but about the quality of decisions enabled and the value created.
That shift may sound incremental, but it fundamentally changes how you build a company and how you interact with partners.
Where does SpiroChem create the most value today in drug discovery?
We create the most value where chemistry becomes complex and cannot be standardised.
This includes areas such as macrocycles, peptide-like molecules, ADC-related chemistry, radiopharmaceutical components, and targeted protein degradation approaches. These are modalities where traditional approaches are often insufficient and where chemistry plays a central role in shaping outcomes.
In these contexts, the challenge is not only to make molecules, but to explore chemical space in a structured and efficient way, while maintaining a strong link to biology.
Our role is to design, generate, and help interpret compounds in a way that enables clear next decisions. Over time, this has resulted in internal ways of exploring and prioritising chemical space that are not immediately visible from the outside, but that significantly impact how efficiently programs move forward.
In a number of cases, this extends beyond chemistry itself. We design and orchestrate integrated discovery programs, working with a selected network of specialised biology partners to ensure that chemical design, biological validation, and data generation are aligned from the outset.
As drug discovery moves into more complex modalities, chemistry is no longer a supporting function — it becomes a central driver of success.
You’ve always invested heavily in internal R&D. How does that shape your model today?
Internal R&D has been part of SpiroChem from day one.
Alongside client work, we have continuously invested in new chemistries, proprietary libraries, and ways of exploring chemical space. This has allowed us to build capabilities that go beyond individual projects.
Today, this is increasingly structured into platforms — combining chemistry, methodologies, and data. These platforms allow us to approach problems more systematically and to contribute more than execution.
We are also investing in how to augment our capabilities further, through automation, high-throughput experimentation, and data-driven approaches. The objective is not to replace chemists, but to enhance their ability to explore and prioritise effectively.
A significant part of this value comes from accumulated internal knowledge — not only data, but how that data is generated, interpreted, and reused across programs. This is not something that can be easily standardised or transferred, but it becomes a compounding advantage over time.
In many ways, we were building platforms before we started describing them as such.
Do you see SpiroChem playing a role beyond service — for example in company creation or venture building?
Yes, this is a natural extension of where we are heading. Through our work, we are often exposed to early-stage ideas, emerging targets, and new opportunities. In some cases, we can contribute not only to execution, but to how programs are initially structured.
We have already taken steps in that direction, for example through our involvement in Amphilix, where we participate beyond a traditional service role.
More broadly, we see an opportunity to be part of the company creation ecosystem — in Basel and in other hubs — by contributing to the early shaping of programs and, in selected cases, to the creation of new ventures.
We don’t only want to support programs — we want to contribute to where they originate.
How do you see the future of drug discovery — and SpiroChem’s role in it?
Drug discovery is becoming more complex, both biologically and chemically. We are seeing a shift toward modalities beyond traditional small molecules, and a growing need for tighter integration between disciplines. This increases the importance of how chemical space is explored and how decisions are made.
Generating data is no longer the bottleneck. The challenge is generating the right data and interpreting it correctly.
This also requires a more integrated approach. Chemistry, biology, and data can no longer operate in silos. One of our roles is to help structure and connect these elements — either directly or through carefully selected partners — so that programs progress in a coherent and efficient way.
We see our role as enabling that process — combining strong chemistry, structured exploration, and increasingly technology to support better decision-making.
The companies that will create the most value are not those that generate more data, but those that make better decisions faster.
What has been the toughest challenge in your journey so far?
One of the most challenging aspects has been navigating industry cycles while maintaining a consistent long-term direction.
The recent downturn, combined with pricing pressure and increased competition, required discipline — particularly in deciding where to focus and what not to pursue.
That is often the harder part: being selective and concentrating on areas where you can have a real impact.
At the same time, these periods reinforce the importance of differentiation. They highlight the limits of traditional models and confirm the need to keep evolving.
In our case, they reinforced our focus on complexity, on value creation, and on building a model that goes beyond pure service.
What keeps you motivated after 15 years building SpiroChem?
It comes down to two things: people and problems.
We have built a team of highly capable individuals who take ownership of complex challenges. Seeing how they approach problems and how they evolve over time is a strong source of motivation.
At the same time, the nature of the work continues to evolve. The problems we are working on today are more complex and more interesting than they were ten or fifteen years ago.
There is also a broader dimension. After 15 years, you are not only building a company — you are contributing to an ecosystem, creating opportunities, and helping shape how work is done.
What advice would you give to scientists considering building a company today?
Be very clear about where value is created.
It is relatively easy to build a company around a capability. It is much harder to build a company that sits at the point where decisions are made.
Understanding that distinction early — and positioning yourself accordingly — makes a significant difference over time.
