Automating the Future of Drug Manufacturing: How ReactWise Is Revolutionizing Chemical Process Optimization
- David Wright
- Oct 22
- 3 min read
What ReactWise Does
ReactWise develops AI-powered software that accelerates chemical process development in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. The platform combines data-driven optimization, proprietary chemical datasets, and self-driving laboratory capabilities to identify optimal reaction conditions - helping R&D teams cut development time, save materials, and reduce waste.
The Current Landscape and ReactWise
The pharmaceutical industry faces growing pressure to innovate faster, reduce environmental impact, and streamline development pipelines. Traditional reaction optimization methods such as Design of Experiments (DoE) or one-factor-at-a-time approaches remain dominant but are often inefficient, costly, and slow. While automation and high-throughput experimentation (HTE) are gaining traction, the full potential of these technologies remains untapped due to the lack of seamless software integration and intelligent decision-making.
The current competitive landscape in chemical process development is dominated by state-of-the-art Design of Experiments (DoE) approaches, where most researchers and industrial chemists rely on software such as JMP or MoDDE to plan and analyze experiments.
In parallel, a new generation of companies, including Sunthetics and ChemAI, are applying Bayesian optimization to chemistry problems. The key challenge, however, lies in making Bayesian optimization truly effective for chemistry. Traditional Bayesian optimization often struggles to capture the complexity of categorical variables such as solvents, ligands, or catalysts, and lacks the ability to incorporate chemical prior knowledge. This is where ReactWise stands apart. The platform not only leverages advanced Bayesian optimization methods but also integrates proprietary chemical datasets and descriptor libraries, enabling intelligent handling of categorical parameters and more accurate guidance for reaction optimization.
The Birth Story of ReactWise
ReactWise was born out of a deep frustration with the inefficiencies of modern process development. The founding team, trained as chemists and engineers with years of hands-on experience in lab automation and machine learning, recognized that most bench chemists lacked access to state-of-the-art optimization tools. Despite advancements in algorithmic techniques, these methods rarely made it to the lab due to their complexity and lack of user-friendly interfaces.
After completing their doctoral research in reaction optimization using Bayesian methods, the founders set out to bridge this gap. They envisioned a platform that could democratize access to data-driven experimentation and create a “co-pilot” for chemists - capable of suggesting the best experiments, integrating with lab hardware, and continuously learning from data. Thus, ReactWise was founded in 2024 with the mission to make data-rich, autonomous chemistry the new standard.
The ReactWise Solution
ReactWise offers an intelligent software platform tailored for chemical process development. At its core lies a proprietary Bayesian optimization engine called MemoryBO, which leverages past experimental data to guide new campaigns with minimal waste. The software integrates seamlessly with robotic hardware like Vapourtec flow reactors - enabling closed-loop experimentation and self-driving lab capabilities.
Unlike generic optimization software, ReactWise comes preloaded with curated chemical descriptor databases for solvents, ligands, bases, and more. This enables the platform to not only recommend optimal conditions but also provide chemical insight into why certain conditions work better. Features like 3D surface visualizations, parameter importance plots, and parameter interaction analysis ensure users stay in control of every decision.
The platform has already demonstrated a significant acceleration in reaction optimization compared to traditional DoE approaches. It is currently being used in collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies, research institutes, and equipment vendors across Europe, North America, and Asia.
A ReactWise Customer Story
ReactWise partnered with OnDemand Pharmaceuticals to optimize a complex continuous flow esterification for a small-molecule API. By leveraging Bayesian optimization and proprietary chemical descriptor datasets, the platform enabled a 50% reduction in experimental workload while achieving 90% yield - all within a tightly constrained budget. Instead of relying on intuition and trial-and-error, OnDemand benefited from data-driven recommendations that targeted yield improvement, impurity reduction, and molecular property optimization across six parameters. The result was a fast, reliable, and insight-rich process development campaign that demonstrated how machine learning can deliver high-quality outcomes even in data-scarce environments.
The Team Culture at ReactWise
ReactWise is powered by a cross-disciplinary team of chemists, software engineers, and data scientists. The culture emphasizes curiosity, autonomy, and impact. Lab coats hang next to whiteboards covered in Python scripts and molecular structures. Daily standups often involve both troubleshooting robotic experiments, in-depth organic chemistry challenges, or debating model performance metrics. Employees are encouraged to bring their scientific intuition into product design. From interns working on reaction datasets to engineers building UI for optimization visualizations, every team member is considered a co-designer of the future lab.
A Quote from the Founder of ReactWise
“Chemical reaction optimization shouldn’t be a guessing game. Chemists deserve intelligent tools that learn from the past and guide the future of synthesis. That’s the vision behind ReactWise - merging machine learning with the art of chemistry to equip chemists with data science and build self-driving labs that actually work in the real world.” - Dr. Alexander Pomberger, CEO & Co-Founder