Symeres, previously known as Mercachem and Syncom, is a leading mid-sized European contract research organization (CRO) for integrated outsourced drug discovery services. Symeres focuses on serving smaller and midsized players with the quality and professional standards of larger CROs, enabling clients to develop new medicines faster and at lower costs.

With over 700 scientists across six locations in Europe (the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden), Symeres provides best-in-class solutions for drug discovery and drug development to clients in the global biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Its services range from early stage hit finding to the delivery of early clinical active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). With three additional acquisitions in three years, the company added both contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMO) and biology capabilities, creating an integrated offering for clients across the lifecycle of drug discovery and development. These acquisitions, coupled with strong organic growth, enabled the company to more than quadruple its revenue and profitability.  Its flexible teams of experts help its clients make better-informed decisions, lowering drug development costs and increasing success rates.

Gilde Healthcare invested in Mercachem and Syncom in 2017 and merged them to form Symeres, thereby creating a leading European drug discovery platform. The investment accelerated organic growth, while adding complementary services both organically and via acquisitions to create an integrated service provider. Gilde actively supported Symeres with the acquisitions, leveraging its network to source the companies and playing a pivotal role in the execution of the transactions. In addition, Gilde has helped strengthen the senior management team and supervisory board, and supported several operational measures such as the building of new facilities. Gilde exited Symeres in 2021 to Keensight Capital, a French investor with a specialization in CROs.

Rafael Natanek, Partner at Gilde Healthcare shares: “We have supported Symeres’  expansion plans and strictly focused on adding quality providers with a complementary service offering. We are proud to have worked closely with management to help them source and acquire companies which facilitated Symeres’ transformation into the leading integrated CRO it is today.”

This information is accurate as of Gilde’s investment period.