Company

Adamed co-finances Apeiron Synthesis, a Polish deep tech company with an aspiration to provide innovative and breakthrough chemical solutions

21 December 2022

Apeiron Synthesis, thanks to the ideas of Polish scientists, produces advanced chemical products, such as olefin metathesis catalysts. With the company’s solutions, it is possible to produce valuable chemical compounds – including, for example, medicines – cheaper, faster and more ecologically. It was precisely because of the potential for use of this solution in the pharmaceutical industry that Adamed, through an investment fund, joined the group of investors, positively assessing the company’s growth perspective. In total, Apeiron Synthesis’s team has just won PLN 21 million in the seed round.

The technology of Apeiron Synthesis enables the production of innovative chemical compounds, including from renewable raw materials, whose synthesis would not be possible or profitable with the methods used so far, thus showing the real impact of this technology on the world around us.

“Apeiron Synthesis S.A. is one of the gems of the Polish deep tech scene. The catalysts developed by the company are used, among others, in the synthesis of active substances for the latest generation of drugs. They make these processes more efficient and environmentally friendly. They allow for optimisation of production costs. As Adamed, we are proud that by participating in the investment round, we are joining the revolution that olefin metathesis catalysts are bringing to the field of organic synthesis. We are convinced that through our know-how related to the pharmaceutical industry we will bring significant added value to the Company,” says Paweł Roszczyk, Member of the Management Board of Adamed Pharma S.A., Managing Director.

A kilogram of the powder created by the Apeiron Synthesis team costs up to €70,000. However, this efficient solution reduces the cost of manufacturing. As the company demonstrates, the synthesis of a biologically active compound, requiring 20 stages to date, can be shortened by up to four stages thanks to the use of metathesis. This, in addition to shortening the entire process, can result in a 20% reduction in manufacturing cost. In the opinion of the Adamed team, as an investor, this is an important opportunity to increase the availability in terms of costs of new drugs (including the Polish ones) and thus drug therapies for Polish patients.

“We are one of the four companies in the world that successfully commercialise the technology of olefin metathesis awarded with the Nobel Prize in 2005. The company creates solutions allowing for a more effective, cheaper and environmentally friendly synthesis of, among others, medicines, plastics, fuel additives and pheromones,” says Apeiron Synthesis CEO Michał Bieniek.

Thanks to the investors, the Polish team will be able to effectively strengthen Poland’s position on the international catalyst market, whose estimated value is over USD 30 billion. In the global market, four companies are currently present in this area, including Poland’s Apeiron Synthesis. The business area of the company is particularly important in view of the current highly competitive economy. Many companies in highly developed countries are looking for a technological advantage in the manufacturing of chemical products to increase their profits and ensure company growth. Thanks to the support of investors, including Adamed through a dedicated fund, the company will have a chance to scale the proposed solutions. As a result, this will benefit not only the company itself or the recipients of its products and their customers, but also the natural environment.

In addition to Adamed acting through a dedicated fund, the main investors are Orlen VC and Aper Ventures (lead investor), providing a total of PLN 21 million for the development of Apeiron Synthesis.