Oxford Molecular Plc, Oxford-based computer-aided drug design software publisher, is coming to the London market in a flotation set to value it at about UKP30m. The company, set up by an Oxford professor and his former pupil, is involved in academic software republishing, and specialises in molecular modelling software. Formed in 1989, the company started off in software sales but has progressed into contract molecular design. The next stage, says co-founder Dr Graham Richards, will be to make the molecules themselves and patent them; it has offices in France and the US. Oxford University currently owns 30% of the equity. The float will make its three key researchers UKP600,000 each.
