ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tripos Discovery Informatics, a leading provider of discovery informatics software to aid drug discovery, today announced that Jim Hopkins has been named Chief Executive Officer of the newly private company. The Discovery Informatics business was recently purchased by Vector Capital from Tripos, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRPS - News), and will function as an independent company. The company also announced two important appointments to the executive team: Dr. Richard Cramer, chief scientific officer, and Dr. Robert Clark, vice president of research.
“We are pleased to have completed the spinout of Tripos Discovery Informatics, establishing it as an independent, private company,” said Amish Mehta, a partner at Vector Capital. “We’re excited to back the management team of the new Tripos led by Jim Hopkins, who has an established track record of building successful businesses, and to fund the organic and acquisition based growth strategy of the business.”
The company will focus on innovation within its current technology portfolio, specifically enhancing the core functionality and user experience of its computational informatics product suite SYBYL. Additionally, the company will continue to support the large pharmaceutical companies that have adopted Tripos’ Benchware enterprise-class products, through professional services, customer and technical support.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to lead this organization as an independent company, refocused and poised for profitable growth,” said Jim Hopkins, CEO, Tripos Discovery Informatics. “Vector Capital brings a level of attention to their portfolio companies that will enable us to deliver customer focused products, services and support. As a Vector Capital portfolio company, we will be able to leverage additional capital resources to ensure we’re delivering the most innovative solutions to our customers.”
During the ten years prior to joining Tripos Discovery Informatics, Hopkins has been an executive officer or served on the boards of more than a dozen public and private companies. Most recently he was Chairman and CEO of Micrografx, Inc., a Texas-based Nasdaq-listed graphics software company that was sold to Corel Corporation. He became acquainted with Vector Capital while on the Board of Directors of Corel as a result of Vector’s purchase of Corel. He has taken companies through the IPO and Secondary public offering processes, and has conducted strategic acquisitions and sales of both public and private companies.
Also joining the newly independent Tripos Discovery Informatics is Dr. Richard D. Cramer as chief scientific officer (CSO). Dr. Cramer served as the vice president for science at Tripos, Inc., for the past 24 years. Dr. Cramer is best known for the invention of CoMFA®, the first and most widely used 3D-QSAR technique. He is also the founder and former chief technical officer of STATS, Inc., the leading provider of sports statistical information. The company was eventually purchased by Fox Sports. Dr. Cramer received his PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry from MIT.
Dr. Robert Clark was also named as the vice president of research. Dr. Clark has over 25 years of experience in the industry and previously served as the vice president of scientific research and director of the Informatics Research Center at Tripos, Inc. He has played a key role in the expansion of Tripos’ world-renowned technology for elucidating quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), molecular diversity, combinatorial library design and pharmacophore identification, and has published extensively in these and related areas. Prior to that, he worked at Monsanto on the discovery and development of biologically active small molecules, including screening, physiology and SAR-guided synthesis. Dr. Clark earned his PhD in Biochemistry from Cornell University.
The teams led by Dr. Cramer and Dr. Clark within Tripos Discovery Informatics continue the maniacal dedication to scientific excellence for which Tripos informatics and enterprise solutions are renowned.
About Tripos Discovery Informatics
Tripos Discovery Informatics helps pharmaceutical companies and research facilities around the world successfully accelerate the identification and optimization of new compounds that have the potential to become drug products. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Tripos Discovery Informatics serves more than 1,000 customers spanning over 46 countries. For additional information please visit www.tripos.com.
About Vector Capital
Vector Capital is a leading private equity firm specializing in buyouts, spinouts and recapitalizations of established technology businesses. Vector identifies and pursues these complex investments in both the private and public markets. Vector actively partners with management teams to devise and execute new financial and business strategies that materially improve the competitive standing of these businesses and enhance their value for employees, customers and shareholders. Among Vector’s notable investments are Savi Technology, LANDesk Software, Corel Corporation (Nasdaq: CREL - News), Register.com, Watchguard Technologies, and SafeNet Inc. (pending). For more information, visit www.vectorcapital.com.
Contact: fama PR Brian Merrill, 617-758-4146 brian@famapr.com or Tripos Discovery Informatics Diana O’Rourke, 314-951-3310 orourke@tripos.com
Source: Tripos Discovery Informatics
