Comparison
CovaSketch vs NovoMCP: Pharma Analytics and ICH Workflows vs a Compute Engine for Drug Discovery
Both provide chemistry tools via the open MCP protocol. NovoMCP is an open-source compute engine for drug discovery and materials science, CovaSketch a hosted all-in-one MCP for chemistry, pharma and biotech, hosted in Germany. As of 6 October 2026.
In short
NovoMCP focuses on compute-heavy in-silico methods (docking, molecular dynamics, quantum chemistry, structure prediction) and can be self-hosted. CovaSketch covers analytics, stability, toxicology, solubility and synthesis along ICH workflows with deterministic tools, hosted in Germany. NovoMCP details from its own publications (novomcp.com, GitHub), as of 6 October 2026.
Quick overview
| Criterion | CovaSketch | NovoMCP |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | CovaSyn GmbH, Leipzig | Quant NexusAI Inc. (USA), per its terms |
| Approach | Hosted MCP platform, results computed rather than guessed | Open-source engine (Apache-2.0, core BSL 1.1) plus hosted services |
| Focus | Pharma R&D and contract manufacturing: analytics, stability, toxicology, solubility, synthesis | Drug discovery and materials science: ADMET, docking, molecular dynamics, quantum chemistry, structure prediction |
| Tools | Deterministic tools for analytics, stability, toxicology and solubility | 69 tools per its website |
| ICH | Tools along ICH M7, Q1, Q12 | Regulatory coverage via its own compliance API (FAVES, 8 jurisdictions), no tool focus on ICH workflows |
| Operation | Hetzner in Nuremberg, data in the EU; self-hosting available | Self-hostable locally; hosted services on AWS us-east-1 |
| Data protection | GDPR Art. 28 DPA, no training on your data | Servers in the USA (AWS us-east-1), transfers under EU standard contractual clauses, no training on requests |
| Access | After the initial call, sign-in via OAuth or API key | API keys for hosted services, no sign-in locally |
As of 6 October 2026. Sources: novomcp.com, novomcp.com/pricing, novomcp.com/privacy, github.com/NovoMCP/novomcp
Which fits when
When NovoMCP makes sense
NovoMCP fits when your focus is compute-heavy drug discovery or materials research, such as docking, molecular dynamics, quantum chemistry or structure prediction, and you want to run or adapt an open-source engine yourself.
When CovaSketch makes sense
CovaSketch fits when your pharma, biotech or chemistry team wants analytics (NMR, MS), stability, solubility, toxicology and synthesis planning right inside its usual working environment, hosted in Germany, with a DPA and without its own compute infrastructure.
- Cost comparison
- NovoMCP: self-hosting free, cloud operation on request. CovaSketch: licences are a subscription, tiered by team.
- Bottom line
- Compute-heavy drug discovery and materials research you run yourself: NovoMCP. Pharma analytics and ICH workflows, hosted in Germany: CovaSketch. Both can also be combined via MCP.