History

Enantia has a short but successful history. Enantia is an independent private company, founded in 2003 as a spin-off from a research group of the University of Barcelona devoted to enantioselective synthesis and asymmetric catalysis. The company was founded to combine the expertise of leading university academics with a strong client oriented focus and professional management. Since then the company has developed its activity in the field of general organic synthesis with a focus on asymmetric synthesis and crystal engineering. Due to the ample industrial experience brought by one of the founders of the company, since the very beginning Enantia has been seen by our clients as the partner of choice to translate creative chemistry into robust processes running at industrial scale.

Today, with 40+ employees, Enantia has become a reference provider for pharmaceutical, fine chemical and biotech companies that seek not only scientific & technical excellence but also a simple and candid way to do business.

Some highlights of Enantia´s history are:

• Apr-03. Enantia was founded and headquartered in the Barcelona Science Park. The initial team was composed by eight people including Mr. Llorenç Rafecas as CEO, a professional with 24 years of experience in the fine chemicals industry, with executive responsibilities in chemical R&D.
• Jan-05. Enantia expanded to new laboratories within the Barcelona Science Park.
• Jan-06. Genius Pharma, a consortium led by the three major Spanish pharmaceutical companies in which Enantia plays one of the leading roles, is selected as a winning CENIT project (CDTI).
• May-06. Dr. Joan Feixas joined the company as Director, with Sales, Finance and Administration responsabilities.
• Feb-07. Enantia opens a new laboratory in Esplugues de Llobregat to start its Crystal Engineering Department.
• May-08. 5th Anniversary Celebration. This was a highly celebrated milestone for a company like us. We enjoyed a full day of activities including wine tasting in a historical vineyard, human tower building led by one of the most renowed "castellers" in history and a lunch in a medieval castle.
• June-08. Enantia is awarded the "2008 Pimec Prize" for the most competitive small company. This prize was given personally by the King of Spain Juan Carlos I to Llorenç Rafecas (CEO) during a dinner in Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona.
• Sept-08: As a result of rapid growth, an additional laboratory is commissioned in Esplugues de Llobregat with the aquisition of a state-of-the-art X-Ray diffractometer to support co-crystal related projects.