Accelrys, a scientific enterprise R&D software and services company, paid $35 million in cash to acquire privately held VelQuest, a lab execution and instrument data capture software company.

The acquisition extends Accelrys’ reach beyond research and into quality assurance and quality control phases of product development. Using VelQuest’s procedure execution management products (SmartLab, SmartBatch, and gmpLIMS), Accelrys said it will speed time to innovation with up to 10 times reduction in compliance risk.

Some integration has already taken place between the VelQuest offerings and existing Accelrys solutions, opening the door to further synergies and downstream opportunities as a result of this acquisition.

“Joining forces with Accelrys is a real win for the many life sciences organizations we serve,” said Ken Rapp, president and CEO of VelQuest. “In addition, with Accelrys’ broad market reach, the utilization of VelQuest’s products beyond life sciences offers significant opportunities. Most importantly, the inherent synergies between Accelrys and VelQuest products and their critical roles in the development to commercialization phases of the pharmaceutical R&D process offer customers a comprehensive, single-source informatics offering along the entire lab-to-plant value chain.”