CEO's end of year message 2013

I am writing this message having recently returned from a trade mission to China where I was inspired by the phenomenal economic growth and dynamic approaches to doing business in a rapidly expanding market. Cresset is well placed to participate in China, India and other growing scientific markets, and I am looking forward to the challenges that the changing worldwide pharmaceutical market will bring in 2014 and beyond.

Looking back over 2013, I’m pleased to see how Cresset’s scientific strengths shine through. This last year saw new releases to all of the products in our software range. Of particular note were the release of BlazeGPU and Activity Miner in Torch and Forge, each of which broke new ground in terms of combining innovative science, cutting edge computing and the best intuitive software design. We remain committed to bringing you professional products that make a significant contribution to your research.

Having an in-house consulting team who use Cresset’s software on a daily basis helps us to understand how our software is used on real research issues. Our consulting team, led by Dr. Martin Slater, continues to go from strength to strength; working on projects as diverse as compound designs for novel therapeutics against osteoarthritis, developing new sweeteners and investigating the molecular origins of particular fragrances.

Cresset-led events this year included training courses, webinars and our user group meetings: Field Based Chemistry 2013 in Cambridge, UK and Cambridge, MA, US which once again reflected the scientific strength of the Cresset community. In our industry, where confidentiality is so important, it is a mark of respect for each other that we manage to share the inspiration and ideas behind our common scientific goals in a constructive way. I am always excited by the open sharing of ideas, approaches and results at our user group meetings. Next year Field Based Chemistry North America will be on June 11th in Cambridge, MA, kindly hosted once again by Novartis and Field Based Chemistry Europe will be in Cambridge, UK on June 19th-20th. Both meetings will include world-class scientific presentations, training on Cresset products and networking opportunities. Further details will be announced in the New Year.

We also continued to attend a series of conferences around the world and supported events such as the Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society’s Young Modellers Forum, 7th International Conference on Annexins as well as the Teach-Discover-Treat initiative, run by the ACS Computers in Chemistry division, which we are also supporting in 2014.

Our recent office relocation has linked us more tightly with Cambridge, the world-renowned centre of UK science and has allowed us to take on more staff. During the year we welcomed Julie (Finance Manager), Nigel (Software Engineer) and Susana (Scientific Developer). We anticipate adding to our team in 2014.

To support the environment and corporate social responsibility we will be refraining from sending festive greeting cards this year. In lieu of this we have made a small financial donation to the East of England Air Ambulance and British Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan Appeal.

As we celebrate the successes of 2013 we are keen to build on them for 2014 and beyond. The 2013 Nobel prize in chemistry highlighted the contribution that molecular modeling has already made to today’s chemical and pharmaceutical industries.  I look forward with great anticipation to new scientific challenges in 2014 and to meeting and working with friends and customers old and new.

Dr. Robert Scoffin
Chief Executive Officer