Beyond the Catalog: Enamine's Journey to Global Drug Discovery Partner
In 2026, Enamine marks its 35th anniversary — a journey that began as a small grant-funded group at the Kyiv Institute of Organic Chemistry and has since grown into a global partner to pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic institutions, with more than 3,000 people across six countries. In this interview, Christene Smih of CHEManager speaks with Andrey A. Tolmachev, Founder and Owner of Enamine, reflecting on the decisions that shaped the company's growth, why collaboration has become as central to Enamine's identity as chemistry itself, and where he sees the next chapter of drug discovery heading.
Interview with Andrey A. Tolmachev, Founder and Owner, Enamine
CHEManager: Looking back across 35 years and roughly three million stock compounds later, which turning point in Enamine's history do you consider the most consequential — the one that most changed the trajectory of the company?
Andrey A. Tolmachev: If I had to name one turning point, it is the thorough investment in people and the knowledge we have gained together every single day over 35 years. Our scientists and all people in Enamine are the around that has always been our greatest asset. But in terms of a strategic milestone, the creation of the Enamine REAL approach was the moment that changed everything: the idea that readily accessible molecules could be built through parallel synthesis in just a few steps unlocked a chemical universe that today holds trillions of synthesizable compounds. That single innovation became the engine behind everything we built after, like screening collections and building blocks as well as the integrated platform.
You've described Enamine's evolution as moving from a supplier of screening compounds to a fully integrated partner spanning chemistry, biology, and computational science. What had to change internally, in mindset and structure, to make that shift possible?
"That single innovation became the engine behind everything we built after."
A. A. Tolmachev: We realized that everything, starting from chemistry to biology and computational science, can and should work as a single organism under one big roof. Our partners do not need to go to two or three different service providers or catalog companies, they need just one point of contact: they need Enamine. Making that vision real required us to fundamentally change how we thought about our role, moving from 'what compounds can we provide?' to 'what does our partner need to succeed at every stage?' That meant the teams should evolve and adjust accordingly. Above all, it took the proactivity and professionalism of our people, who embraced that ambition and grew with it every single day. Frankly speaking, it took a while, and we are still learning, but it is all a part of the process.
Enamine's REAL Database and REAL Space have grown from millions to tens of billions of synthesizable molecules. How has the strategy behind building and using these ultra-large chemical spaces changed as computational tools and AI have advanced?
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