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Altaris takes drug-simulation software maker Simulations Plus private

Altaris takes drug-simulation software maker Simulations Plus private

Money Moves

A healthcare investor buys the AI drug-development firm for $18.50 a share and plans to merge it with a molecular-design rival it already owns

June 16th, 2026: Altaris agrees to buy the company

Overview

Simulations Plus agreed on June 16, 2026 to be taken private by Altaris for $18.50 a share, or about $375 million total. Shareholders get a 26% premium over the prior 60-day average. Altaris plans to fold the company into Chemical Computing Group, a molecular-design firm it already owns.

The deal arrives after a bruising year. In July 2025, Simulations Plus disclosed a $77.2 million write-down and the firing of auditor Grant Thornton in the space of two days; the dispute spilled into SEC filings and sent the stock down about 25%. Two law firms launched merger investigations on the deal's announcement day, questioning whether $18.50 is enough.

Why it matters

Pharma researchers lose another independent modeling tool, and shareholders may be cashing out near the bottom after a costly write-down depressed the stock.

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Key Indicators

$375M
Deal value
All-cash price for Simulations Plus, not subject to a financing condition.
$18.50
Price per share
Cash paid to shareholders for each Simulations Plus share.
26%
Premium
Markup over the stock's 60-day average price as of June 15, 2026.
$79.2M
FY2025 revenue
Up 13% from the prior year, despite a tough market for pharma clients.

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People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

January 1996 June 2026

7 events Latest: June 16th, 2026 · 4 weeks ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date
  1. Altaris agrees to buy the company

    Latest Acquisition

    Simulations Plus agrees to a $375 million all-cash sale at $18.50 a share, with plans to go private and merge with Chemical Computing Group.

  2. Fiscal 2025 results show a tougher market

    Financial

    Revenue rose 13% to $79.2 million, but management flagged client budget cuts and project delays.

  3. $77.2M write-down and auditor firing rock the stock

    Financial

    Simulations Plus disclosed a $77.2 million non-cash impairment charge, then revealed it had fired auditor Grant Thornton; Grant Thornton later told the SEC its internal-control concerns 'were not resolved to our satisfaction.' The stock fell about 25% over the two days.

  4. Company goes public

    Corporate

    Simulations Plus lists on the Nasdaq stock market, raising capital to expand its software work.

  5. Simulations Plus founded

    Origin

    Walter and Virginia Woltosz start the company to build simulation software for pharmaceutical research.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2024

ArchiMed takes Instem private (2024)

The healthcare-focused private equity firm ArchiMed bought Instem, a UK maker of software for drug-development and clinical research, for about £203 million. Instem left the London market and went private.

Then

Instem delisted and continued operating under private ownership, free of quarterly reporting.

Now

Another independent drug-development software vendor moved under a specialist healthcare investor.

Why this matters now

A near-identical playbook: a specialist healthcare PE firm pulls a niche drug-development software company off public markets.

December 2024

Novo Holdings buys Catalent (2024)

Novo Holdings, the investment arm behind Novo Nordisk, acquired drug-manufacturing services firm Catalent for about $16.5 billion and took it private. The deal drew heavy regulatory review given Novo's drug ties.

Then

Catalent left public markets; regulators cleared the deal after scrutiny of its links to a major drugmaker.

Now

A healthcare investor absorbed a key pharma-services supplier, concentrating capacity under one owner.

Why this matters now

Shows healthcare-focused investors taking pharma-services firms private, and how regulators weigh consolidation in the drug-development chain.

2019

Dassault Systèmes acquires Medidata (2019)

French software giant Dassault Systèmes bought clinical-trial software company Medidata for about $5.8 billion. The purchase folded a major drug-trial data platform into a larger design-software portfolio.

Then

Medidata became a unit of Dassault's life-sciences arm rather than a standalone public company.

Now

Drug-development software kept consolidating into larger platforms spanning multiple research stages.

Why this matters now

Mirrors the strategic logic here: combine tools used at different stages of drug research under a single owner.

Sources

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