ChemNavigator, which has operations in San Diego and in Australia, provides chemists with virtual screening tools and products that allow them to channel their chemical designs toward sets of commercially available compounds.

Sigma-Aldrich said this acquisition links ChemNavigator’s tools and searchable database of more than 60 million compounds with Sigma-Aldrich’s core strengths in chemical compound management, procurement and distribution.

“This acquisition enables Sigma-Aldrich to provide the research community with an efficient, seamless discovery offer that extends from virtual selection to compound delivery,” Ilya Koltover, manager of business development for Sigma-Aldrich, said in a statement.

Scott Hutton is president and CEO of ChemNavigator, which he co-founded with the company’s vice president and chief technical officer, Tad Hurst. Hutton and Hurst previously held senior posts with St. Louis-based discovery research firm Tripos Inc., a public company that sold its assets and was dissolved in 2007. Still operating is privately-held Tripos International, also based in St. Louis, is a discovery informatics business formed when Vector Capital purchased certain of Tripos Inc.’s assets.

St. Louis-based Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ: SIAL), led by Chairman, President and Chief Executive Jai Nagarkatti, is a life-science and high-technology company.

Source: St. Louis Business Journal