Tim Jamison and Aaron Beeler Launch Snapdragon Chemistry, Inc., a Next-Gen Flow Chemistry Company

CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwired - May 07, 2015) - Tim Jamison, professor of chemistry, MIT, and Aaron Beeler, assistant professor of chemistry, Boston University, today announced the launch of Snapdragon Chemistry, Inc., which combines sophisticated solutions and services with preeminent scientific expertise to help companies harness the advantages and opportunities of continuous flow synthesis. The co-founders, together with their scientific advisory board, which includes Klavs Jensen, professor of chemical engineering and department head, MIT, and Steve Buchwald, professor of chemistry, MIT, have led many of the noteworthy advances in continuous flow synthesis and processing over the last decade.

Continuous flow technology is nearing an inflection point and is poised to transform a series of industries where organic synthesis is core to product development and manufacturing -- affecting a market capitalization value of up to $4 trillion in the global economy. Much has been written on the promise of continuous flow chemistry in manufacturing, which can bring increases in efficiency, safety, and quality, along with significantly reduced operating expenses. Less appreciated, perhaps, is the dramatic impact that the technology could have on new product discovery and development. Continuous flow, for instance, could help researchers discover life-saving medicines by enabling them to search new chemical space using reactions that were infeasible or unreliable in the conventional batch chemistry format. Moreover, these molecules could then be readily scaled to accelerate additional testing for more rapid prototyping in discovery.

The reality, though, is that few of the promises of continuous flow chemistry have been realized. More than thirty years since some of the earliest reports of its implementation into select manufacturing processes, continuous flow has not significantly changed the way the industry synthesizes and manufactures organic molecules. Tim Jamison, who is CEO of Snapdragon Chemistry, said, "One key driver of flow's limited application is the lack of internal resources to investigate and develop the technology. On a related note, there is an overall lack of scientific talent with expertise in flow technology because it's not at all incorporated into chemists' education and training." Snapdragon Chemistry aims to change the entire narrative around continuous flow technology by providing companies with innovative solutions that leverage Snapdragon's deep technical expertise across chemical synthesis and engineering as well as its proprietary knowledge from developing a broad variety of continuous processes for single reactions and multi-step syntheses.

"Snapdragon Chemistry believes that visualizing solutions through the lens of flow chemistry early in product development is essential not only to unlock its benefits in manufacturing but also to capture significant advantages in R&D," says Tim Jamison. Consequently, Snapdragon Chemistry has developed a range of solutions that provides chemists with new tools to speed the discovery and development of medicines and other products and positions these products to be manufactured continuously. For instance, Snapdragon's Reaction Optimization Center of Excellence helps translate desired organic syntheses end-to-end into a continuous flow format -- from reaction and reactor design, to the scaling of a process, to developing multi-step synthesis in one integrated continuous process. Another of its core offerings is portfolio optimization analysis to help companies proactively pinpoint specific areas of opportunity in their portfolio of molecules where conversion to continuous flow synthesis would be feasible and have maximum benefit. "It is clear that [continuous manufacturing] is how organic molecules will be manufactured in the future, and I am excited to be a part of a cutting-edge company like Snapdragon Chemistry, which will have a big role in helping catalyze this transformation," said Klavs Jensen, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT, who is a member of Snapdragon's scientific advisory board.

To bring the best to its clients, Snapdragon Chemistry is forming an ecosystem of partners including Paraza Pharma Inc., a best-in-class drug discovery service provider, based in Montreal, Canada, and Zaiput Flow Technologies, a leading manufacturer of advanced tools for continuous flow. Paraza complements Snapdragon Chemistry's expertise, enabling a more holistic service paradigm in the discovery and early development space. In addition, through its partnership with Zaiput Flow Technologies, Snapdragon Chemistry will bring the most innovative and effective continuous flow solutions to clients.

Snapdragon Chemistry is headquartered in the Greater Boston area and is a leading provider of flow chemistry solutions and services. It offers a wide-range of solutions, including reaction development and optimization (such as multi-step synthesis in flow), proactive portfolio analysis to identify strategic opportunities to apply flow, and process development and discovery solutions. Snapdragon Chemistry differentiates itself based on a strong portfolio of intellectual property, a network of leading scientists that are shaping the field of continuous flow chemistry, and an unrelenting focus on customer service.