Darwinian Theory: A look back on 25 years ChiroBlock by Dr. Oliver Seidelmann

Five years ago (when ChiroBlock turned 20), I kicked off the congratulatory note with a question: “What do you think, is the most significant event of this year?”, followed by some playful suggestions. Now, five turns around the sun later, I could start the same way as I trust in the forgetfulness of even the most loyal reader – but this would be too simplistic and would not align with the importance of this year’s anniversary.

If someone still not yet has gotten the message: Yes, ChiroBlock celebrated its 25th birthday some weeks ago!

Pic: Founders of the Year 1999 – from left to right: Dr. Oliver Seidelmann, Dr. Volkmar Wendisch, Dr. Frank Leßmann, Dr. Uwe Eilitz

There are countless stories to share, but rather than crafting a historical compendium, I’ll keep this brief.

So, let me start to raise the more general question: What (the hell) makes the odd number “25” that special that it always receives the same attention as its more even and more illustrious siblings such as “30”, “50” – let alone “100”? There is no clear answer, of course, but some vague speculations: One reason might be a mathematical one: “25” is just a prominent and common divisor of “50” and “100” – so to say, halfway – or at least quarter – of the way to the glorious one hundred…

However, I prefer a more personal explanation: turning 25 is a pivotal moment in everyone’s life: One is not just an adult but normally has already chosen a profession, has finished academic studies or professional education schemes. By this age, one has started to earn money, left the home of childhood, found a partner to live with. On the one hand, it is the first time at which many aspects of life have been set in some way and on the other hand one stills feels young enough to cope with nearly every challenge and to draft plans for decades to come. To make it short:

It is the first station in everybody’s life with solid footing but no clear endpoint in sight.

Does that also apply to legal entities such as companies? At first sight – it may not seem so. They are not humans with a limited / defined lifespan, with childhood and adult phase. Yet, they get founded by human beings and here, the limitations of people come in again. If a company turns 25, their founders have reached an age of 50 and more. A point in life when you do know that your business idea proved to work (reason to celebrate!) and – on the other hand – a date when you know that you probably will (and can) not re-start again. [You do not have to, basically – another point for celebrating :-)]

Thus, we also take the occasion of this magic number of years to celebrate, to look back and to look forward to the decades to come. Many things have changed during this quarter of a century and one of these changes I would like to forward in the form of a puzzle:

“How can it be that our share capital has nearly halved over time while still representing the same value?”
(A hint: the answer involves another significant number we encountered along the way—1.95583, which I’ll reveal at the end.)

So, when we look back – What really was the most important thing that needed to be mentioned? I think it has to do with the reason why we have been successful for such a long time. Despite the many smaller and larger crises – locally, industry-wise, individually or globally – we have never recorded a financial loss in any year. Not the financial crisis in 2008, the events of “9/11” in 2001, the COVID-19 pandemic, the inflation of 2023, or the dramatic changes in the chemical industry have negatively impacted ChiroBlock . While our performance has varied from year to year, a consistent upward trend has prevailed, and we have not faced significant economic challenges. I would like to mention these banal financial aspects first – and not some fancy scientific achievements – as they represent the vitality signs of every company. And vitality comes first!

The reason for this performance is not our bright starting-up idea at the beginning and it is not just the excellence of our employees. The reason is our ability to constantly adapt to new situations. The founders of ChiroBlock have embraced Darwin’s principles of evolution more than a special technological idea or industry setting:

“It is not the largest or most powerful entities that survive, but those that continue to adapt.”

This doesn’t mean that ChiroBlock lacks clear objectives or industry focus. Rather, we have approached our goals with flexibility. Here are a few key adaptations we’ve made:

Initially, we started to make proprietary “chiral building blocks” – the origin of our name. We succeeded from a technological point of view – but growth opportunities were limited. So, we employed the same resources and abilities to non-proprietary customer projects, mainly with pharma customers.

At the time of the HTS (“high throughput screening”) hype, we could have devoted the entire company to pharma projects – but we have not succumbed to this temptation and have not become dependent on a handful big customers. We made the next turn and diversified our customer base with a much broader chemistry portfolio.

Then, we established a quality management system to attract clients who required consistent, reproducible supply, leading to the birth of our “SupplyChain Factory” business.

This, in turn, required larger reactors. So, we invested in our first multi purpose kilo lab in 2019. As to avoid any dependence on customer driven projects, we maintained our commitment to in-house R&D on new chemical entities and synthetic routes. Some projects – such as “polyphenols of red wine”, “fluorinated monosaccharides” or “non-natural amino acids” – were less successful. Others, especially “new preservatives for ophthalmica” and “new synthetic routes to isocitric acid”, have proved to be very promising.

These proprietary results of our so called “IP-Factory” complemented the non-proprietary business of the customer specific projects very well. Our 25th year has seen further evolution: we are investing in a second kilo lab with vessel volumes of up to 640 liters, focusing on replacing outdated chemical processes with more sustainable methods, and leveraging the surge in green technologies such as batteries, solar cells, recycling, and innovative plant stimulants.

If you now think – we are an absolutely unorganized bunch lacking any focus, objective and efficiency – you might be wrong. There is a common thread uniting our diverse activities, a bracket that embraces any of our different activities: innovative synthetic chemistry bridging the gap between academia and manufacturing industry, not more, not less.

To make this clear in our everyday work – we have created short slogans and messages that help to stay on track: “Converting Ideas to Molecules” might be the most concise one.

Others, more subordinate descriptions, are: “Transforming knowledge into gains”, “Offering defined success on the basis of unknown technical risks”, “We find solutions by expertise, independence and unbiased views.” – and finally:

“We provide clarity on the basis of consulting and co-operation.”

I hope – no, I am sure, now you do know what we have been doing since 1999.

Financial metrics and a business philosophy are not all that counts. The legal entity ChiroBlock is only alive due to its motivated, skilled, passionate and creative employees. The headcount is more or less identical to the number of years in business. So we are quite a small team but (refer to Darwin!) this doesn’t say much. More importantly are facts like the following:

• 25% of our team members have been working here for more than 20 years
• Another nearly 30% have been working here for at least 8 years – but we also need to be attractive for young professionals
• In 2024 alone, we welcomed three new employees who are younger than 30 years – and- despite the very tense and competitive workforce situation in Germany
• On the basis of an independent employee survey, we were awarded the governmental certificate of being an employee-friendly company the second consecutive year

As a small company we may not offer the highest wages. So the reasons for our attractiveness have to be others: challenging projects, a spirit of team work, very varied working tasks – and the commonly shared passion for synthetic chemistry that can be found everywhere from the management to the technical assistant.

Twenty five years are just a milestone. We are confident that ChiroBlock continues to enjoy a bright future if it sticks to two fundamental principles:

a) staying flexible / adaptive and
b) focussing on innovations in synthetic chemistry.

So, let’s take a moment to reflect, breathe, and express gratitude to our customers and employees. But remember, milestones are just markers on a journey, and there’s much further to travel.

Finally, I owe you the answer to the puzzle: How did our share value halve without a capital cut? Perhaps you have already got the answer: Due to a currency reform!
Yes, ChiroBlock is that old that we founded it with a share capital of 161 thousand DM (German Mark) and then, this was nominally shrunk by the introduction of the EURO to just 82,500 €. The magic number “1,95583”, the exchange rate from German Mark to EURO is forever etched in our brains.

For today I just would like to congratulate ChiroBlock! Stay healthy, strong and prosperous!
If everything goes well, we will celebrate the next milestone in five years time!

Pic: 25 years of ChiroBlock – honor by the IHK on the company anniversary