OXFORD ASYMMETRY FINDS NICHE MARKET: British company capitalizes on trend among life sciences firms to outsource chemical services

The life sciences industries are plagued with start-up companies unable to deliver widely applicable products with real potential to drive earnings. At least one company, though, is finding a way to exploit lucrative niche opportunities in the life sciences. That company is Oxford Asymmetry International (OAI). Located just south of Oxford, England, OAI offers what it calls the "complete chemical solution"—everything from compound libraries to manufacturing— to companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and agrochemical industries. "We can provide all the chemistry a company needs," says Mario Polywka, chief operating officer at OAI. "We've developed processes, supplied material, developed all the analytical chemistry. We've done the whole bit." OAI operates through two divisions, Oxford Asymmetry and Oxford Diversity. Oxford Asymmetry provides route and process development, including design of new processes or optimization of existing routes. It also provides custom synthesis and scale-up from gram ...