LAB ROUNDUP 22 June – China/Japan deals, UK purchases, relocation, appointments and more
22 Jun 2023
Independent custom-made peptide and antibody tools producer Cambridge Research Biochemicals Limited has been acquired by Biosynth. The purchase is expected to further enhance Biosynth's peptide division, which already has operations in the United States and the Netherlands.
Cambridge managing director Emily Humphrys commented: "As one of the longest established peptide companies, we have over 40 years of experience … We see great similarities in the approach that Biosynth already take in leading with science and customer focus."
Spanish scientist Avelino Corma has won the European Inventor Award for Lifetime Achievement for his work on synthetic catalysts to improve chemical reactions. Of the around 300 synthesised zeolite structures formulated to date, one-fifth have been developed by Corma and his colleagues. Corma is also the inventor or co-inventor behind nearly 200 European patent applications and co-founded the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), a joint centre from the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).
Rosemont Pharmaceuticals has bought UK specialist pharmaceutical business Lucis Pharma Ltd, allowing the purchaser to expand its existing portfolio and access to a pipeline of products, providing pharmaceuticals to the UK and overseas markets. The acquisition will enable Rosemont to enter the unit dose / sachet market through the pipeline products. “As well as continuing to broaden our portfolio and add to our strong growth globally, this acquisition also gives access to pipeline products and developer relationships to accelerate our entry into new product areas such as sachets” says Howard Taylor, Chief Executive Officer.
H.E.L Group has relocated its global headquarters to new purpose-designed facilities in Hemel Hempstead, Greater London. The new site on the Centro Trading Estate will house a large purpose-built development and customer application training lab, to form part of H.E.L’s ongoing expansion.
Pistoia Alliance announced a partnership with MatadorJapan KK to increase pharma R&D collaboration in Japan – the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market – with expertise in areas including targeted immunotherapy, the human microbiome, and neurology. The partnership will give Pistoia’s 200-plus member companies access to global expertise in these domains and in the Japanese market. The Alliance has already had success working alongside Japanese organisations including Takeda, QunaSys, Chugai, and National Cancer Hospital East.
Organ-on-a-Chip CN Bio company that designs and manufactures single-and multi-organ microphysiological systems has appointed Dr. Samantha Macro as Chief Financial Officer. Samantha joins CEO, Dr. Paul Brooks, on the executive team to guide all key commercial and strategic initiatives, drive revenue and shape the company’s ongoing growth. CEO Dr. Paul Brooks, said: “I look forward to working closely with Samantha, who brings great experience and will be a strong addition to CN Bio’s team. She has a proven track record in fundraising and will bring valuable M&A experience to the Company. We have reached a critical phase in the commercialisation of our OOC technology, and Samantha will be instrumental in reaching our business goals and executing our continued growth strategy.”
University of the Arts London UAL and international research and technology organisation TWI, have established a centre for creative textile and materials engineering technologies called the University of the Arts London Innovation Lab. UAL is Europe's largest creative education community with more than 22,000 students from 130 countries attending its six colleges. TWI based in Cambridge, specialises in engineering, manufacturing and materials across a wide range of industry sectors.
ABB and China Telecom are collaborating on a joint digitalisation and industrial IoT lab. The project is handled between ABB Measurement & Analytics China Technology Centre and E Surfing IoT, China Telecom’s Internet of Things subsidiary
Collaboration between Radboud University Medical Centre and genomic sequencing firm PacBio seeks to uncover the origins of rare and genetic diseases using innovative genomic technologies. Radboud, which hosts one of the largest academic centres for human genetics in Europe, will use PacBio’s Revio sequencing machine to identify key genetic variants that are involved in diseases with accuracy at scale. Currently, the genetic basis of 50% of rare diseases remains unsolved due to limitations in the accuracy and depth of testing workflows.
Global leader in Breath Biopsyfor applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, Owlstone Medical disclosed new data towards novel tests for liver cirrhosis and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) to the annual meeting of the European Association for Study of the Liver, June 21-24 in Vienna, Austria. The study assessed the firm’s dynamic limonene breath test in cirrhosis detection, determining optimal time for collection of a breath sample and examining the correlation between limonene bioavailability and severity of the disease.
The Southern African Laboratory Diagnostics Association (SALDA) has called on the sector to sustain the progress achieved during the Covid-19 pandemic
Executive Officer Sarah Cohen, said: “We have opened up a lot of technical expertise and infrastructure, and opportunities to seek funding for more clinical research in South Africa.
Hand in hand with organisations like the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Departments of Trade and Innovation; Science and Technology, we are focusing on enabling the production of local products and equipment,” she added citing the recent launch of the locally produced Covid-19 testing kits by Medical Diagnostech (Pty) Ltd.
Eppendorf’s Xplorer and Xplorer-plus single channel pipette line-up has been awarded My Green Lab ACT label certification, making the Xplorer the first electronic pipette on the market to be ACT labeled, says the firm.
