Since 2014, more than 90 percent of new drugs approved by the FDA came from customers of Certara's software. The company sells biosimulation: computer models that predict how a drug moves through different bodies, run as virtual trials on virtual patients. Seventeen drug regulators, including the FDA, license the same software to check the companies they oversee. Certara filed to go public in late 2020, as the world waited for COVID-19 vaccines.

A Dozen Deals, One Platform

Certara grew by buying the tools it needed. By its IPO it had acquired 12 companies, including Simcyp, the core of its simulation platform, and Xenologiq, which started its work in quantitative systems pharmacology. Drug makers used its software to choose doses, plan trials, and answer regulators' questions. Certara also sold consulting and writing services for regulatory filings. Its customers included all of the top 35 drug companies by research spending in 2019.

Owned by EQT, Then Listed

Certara priced its IPO at $23 a share in December 2020 and listed on Nasdaq as CERT. The company sold 14.6 million shares and existing holders sold 14.4 million more. A fund advised by the private equity firm EQT kept majority control after the offering. William Feehery, a former DuPont executive, ran the company as CEO. Certara still trades on Nasdaq as CERT.

Cover: Interiorum corporis humani partium viva delineatio, from the second edition, Monogrammist R. S.. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an anatomical engraving (the virtual patient).