Small molecule drug companies develop low-molecular-weight medicines designed to interact with specific biological targets. These compounds can often enter cells and may be formulated as oral or other conventional dosage forms across a wide range of therapeutic areas.
This category includes companies working on:
Browse 221 UK small molecule drug companies below.
AI drug discovery platform targeting neurological diseases
CoSyne Therapeutics is a drug discovery company applying AI and computational methods to identify and develop therapeutics for neurological diseases. The company describes its approach as polymathic AI, integrating models across biology, chemistry, and genomics to generate and prioritise drug targets. CoSyne operates…
Global drug discovery and development partnership company
Evotec is a global drug discovery and development company with major UK operations at Milton Park, Abingdon, and Alderley Park, Cheshire. Its Abingdon campus houses over 800 staff spanning target validation, medicinal chemistry, structural biology, in silico design, process development, and biologics manufacturing…
In silico software and AI for small molecule drug discovery
Optibrium is a software company providing integrated computational platforms for small molecule design, optimisation and data analysis across preclinical drug discovery. Its tools support compound property prediction, multi-parameter optimisation, AI-driven data analysis, de novo design, and structure-based modelling,…
AI and quantum-chemical platform for small-molecule drug design
Tres Alchemix is the UK subsidiary of a Japanese biotechnology company developing an AI-driven drug-design platform for small-molecule therapeutics. The platform integrates quantum-level chemical calculations with AI models trained on biochemical and pharmacological datasets to predict the efficacy and safety of novel…
ACE inhibitors for safer cardiovascular and fibrosis treatment
Angiodesign is a seed-stage drug discovery company developing next-generation domain-selective inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Unlike current-generation ACE inhibitors, which cause bradykinin accumulation and limiting side effects, Angiodesign's C-domain selective inhibitors aim to reduce blood…
Chemistry-led CRO and CDMO for pharmaceutical and diagnostics R&D
High Force Research is an independent chemistry CRO and CDMO providing synthetic chemistry, process development, and GMP manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical, biotech, and diagnostics industries. Services span route design, complex synthesis, scale-up, and analytical development through to regulatory-grade…
Integrated academic drug discovery facility for anti-infectives and innovative targets
The Drug Discovery Unit is an academic drug discovery facility at the University of Dundee, integrating medicinal chemistry, high-throughput screening, structural biology, cell biology, and DMPK in a single purpose-built facility. The DDU conducts small molecule drug discovery programmes across two areas:…
CBD-based licensed medicines for chronic inflammatory pain
Ananda Pharma is an AQSE-listed UK biotechnology company developing pharmaceutical-grade cannabidiol formulations as licensed medicines for chronic inflammatory pain conditions. The company focuses on essentially THC-free CBD products manufactured to UK pharmaceutical standards, targeting conditions including…
Metal-based antimicrobial drugs and antibiofilm coating compounds
MetalloBio is a University of Sheffield spin-out developing metal-based antimicrobial compounds against drug-resistant bacterial infections. Its KLS-1 series includes investigational antibacterial candidate KLS-116, designed to act against multidrug-resistant pathogens and biofilms. The KLS-2 series is being developed…
Inhaled antifungal therapies for serious respiratory fungal infections
Pulmocide is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing inhaled medicines for life-threatening respiratory fungal infections. Its lead compound opelconazole is a triazole antifungal designed for inhaled delivery to maximise pulmonary drug concentration while minimising systemic exposure and drug interactions.…
Integrated chemistry and development CRO for small molecules
CatSci is a Cardiff-headquartered contract research organisation providing integrated chemistry, analytical, and development services to biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Founded in 2010 by former AstraZeneca scientists, the company offers process chemistry, analytical development, solid-state and preformulation…
GPCR-targeted small molecule drugs for rare and inflammatory disease
Trio Medicines is a small pharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapeutics targeting G-protein coupled receptors for diseases with unmet clinical need. Its pipeline includes gastrin/CCK2 receptor antagonists for gastric neuroendocrine tumours, a selective β2-adrenoceptor antagonist, and a formyl peptide…
API development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical drug substances
Aptuit is a pharmaceutical chemical development and manufacturing site operating as part of Evotec's API and drug product network. The company develops and manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients for small molecule drugs, offering route scouting, process development and scale-up, polymorph screening, analytical…
Clinical-stage oncology company advancing in-licensed cancer drug assets
Ellipses Pharma is a clinical-stage oncology drug development company that in-licenses cancer drug assets from academia and industry, advances them through clinical trials using a continuous funding model, and out-licenses at value-inflection points. Its pipeline spans small molecule kinase inhibitors, selective…
Clinical-stage precision oncology developing first-in-class TACC3 inhibitor therapeutics
Coiled Therapeutics is a UK-listed, clinical-stage oncology company developing precision cancer therapeutics against structurally complex, previously undruggable targets. Its lead candidate, AO-252, is a first-in-class, orally administered small molecule inhibitor of TACC3 currently in Phase I trials for advanced…
Integrated contract drug discovery from Cambridge and India
o2h is a contract research organisation operating an integrated drug discovery platform from Cambridge, UK, and Ahmedabad, India. Core services span medicinal chemistry, biology, DMPK, and non-GMP scale-up, supporting hit-to-lead optimisation through to IND-enabling studies. The company works across small molecule,…
UK affiliate of global innovative medicines company Novartis AG
Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited is the UK commercial and medical affiliate of Novartis AG, the Swiss-headquartered global pharmaceutical company. Headquartered at White City Place in London, the UK operation employs approximately 1,300 people and focuses on commercialisation, medical affairs, regulatory…
Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegeneration
NRG Therapeutics is a clinical-stage neuroscience company developing small molecule inhibitors of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore as disease-modifying treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. Its lead candidate, NRG5051, entered Phase 1 clinical trials in January 2026 for ALS and Parkinson's disease.…
AI-driven discovery of fungal natural product therapeutics
Novogaia is a biotechnology company using machine learning and analytical chemistry to discover drug-like molecules from fungi. Its Gaia-01 model predicts molecular structures from mass spectrometry data, enabling researchers to characterise natural compounds and identify chemical starting points for drug discovery.…
Personalised cancer treatment selection using in vivo drug screening
Vivan Therapeutics is a London-based biotech developing a personalised cancer therapeutics platform. The company's Personal Discovery Process sequences a patient's tumour genome, engineers those mutations into a fruit fly avatar model, and screens thousands of approved drug combinations at high throughput to identify…