Bioinformatics company Lion Biosciences (Heidelberg, Germany) is to buy in silico biology company Trega Biosciences (San Diego, CA) in an all-share deal valued at $35 million, allowing Lion to offer a suite of software that spans the entire drug discovery process by April 2001. Lion already offers “i-biology”—software that can integrate the genomics, proteomics, and chemical library databases to speed selection of disease targets and identification of lead drugs (Nat. Biotechnol. 17, 742, 2000). Trega's iDEA software can be used to simulate the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) profiles of potential drugs, weeding out those unsuitable to make drugs. Sam Williams, biotech analyst at Banc Boston Robertson Stephens (London), estimates that iDEA will contribute a total of around $15 million in revenue, almost doubling Lion's turnover. Williams says the software will also be put to use for Lion's own drug development initiatives; the company expects to start clinical trials on nuclear receptor-based candidates within the next two to three years. Lion paid a hefty equivalent of $1.35 per share against Trega's price of around 70 cents, but Lion's share price rose $6 on the announcement to $77 per share, and Trega's increased 23% to 84 cents.