Avista Capital Partners-backed eMolecules to acquire Specs Compound Handling.

Avista Capital Partners-backed eMolecules, a free chemical structure search engine with millions of public domain structures from worldwide vendors, agreed to acquire Specs Compound Handling, a provider of compound management services and a main supplier of screening compounds. Financial terms were not disclosed. "We are excited to join forces with eMolecules and believe that the combination of our two teams will enhance our value to the drug discovery research community. Specs' customers greatly appreciate the white-glove support that we offer, especially to those with important chemistry operations in Europe. We are delighted that they will benefit from eMolecules' expertise in global chemical procurement and expanded reformatting and inventory management services in the US through our facilities," Johan Tijhuis, Specs CEO.