Lab Talk roundup: funding, relocations, finance, awards and guides

Recipients include: ImmunoServ Ltd, Cardiff University's Division of Infection & Immunity, The Technology Innovation Centre, Primary Care 24 (PC24), Merseyside Refugee Support Network, NHS Merseyside Social Inclusion Team, LCR Ventures Ltd (LYVA Labs), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, CCI Photonics Limited, Research and Enterprise Services, Bowland College, Lancaster University, University of Stirling, University of Leicester, Untap Health, Institute of Aquaculture, University of Bristol, Bristol Dental School, iuvantium Limited, City St George's, University of London, SmartBiotec, Mircobiology Society, Health Data Research UK, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), IQVIA, VIVLI, The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC), Use MY Data, PHA4GE group, 5Dhpg and the University of Liverpool.

The successful projects received network funding of up to £50k or proof of concept funding of up to £150k and are to be completed over the next six to nine months.

For information click here or see video below

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Design and construction specialist BES has completed phase one of new cleanroom and manufacturing facilities for Terumo Aortic’s production and assembly in plant.

Part of a £50 million investment at the Glasgow HQ and manufacturing site of the UK subsidiary of Tokyo’s Terumo Corporation, it will include two new manufacturing grade cleanrooms and a sterilisation suite incorporating new production equipment as part of an extensive automisation programme for the global surgical grafts market.

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Small and mid-sized suppliers in the medical and labs sector could unlock an average of £55,264 in repeat sales with a renewed focus on customer loyalty, a new report claims.

This is based on the profit that manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors could win from customers who do not spend beyond their third purchase, say authors. The Oxford Brookes Business School and ProspectSoft report reviewed 15.8 million sales from firms trading with more than two million businesses, over a period of six months. 

Methuselah Singh, KTP Associate at OBBS, added: “Encouraging customers to place further orders is vital for product businesses. Being able to measure order frequency, and applying strategies that shorten the time between purchases, offers significant potential for growth.”

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NATO has granted an award for the best scientific publication to professor of circular economy Ari Väisänen (picture, top right) and his research team from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Their research article reported on how 3D-metal scavengers proved to be a working solution for cleaning metal-containing waters.

www.jyu.fi/science/fi/kiertotalouden-osaamiskeskittyma

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Chemical and microbiological testing services provider CTS Water Microbiology’s new cutting-edge laboratory in Leicester is now fully operational. The facility, which also includes expanded capability for chemistry testing, including soils and asbestos testing, was developed with the support of a multi-million pound investment from the Phenna Group last year.

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US AscellaHealth, which provides solutions to life sciences and healthcare companies to enhance the quality of life for patients with complex, chronic conditions, has acquired UK-based CHAPPER healthcare, the family-owned pharmaceutical distributor and wholesaler. The British firm specialises in importing and exporting to more than 70 different countries with longstanding relationships with clients across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas.

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Condair has released a new 10-Point Guide to Humidity Control in Cleanrooms offering an overview for managing humidity in closely controlled environments (picture, bottom right).

The firm has compiled what it sees as the most pertinent topics that need to be considered by cleanroom designers, consultants, production and facility managers, when dealing with humidification or dehumidification.

UK & Ireland sales director Dave Marshall-George said: “It walks the reader through the initial design stages, product selection and sizing, energy considerations and maintenance requirements, across both humidifiers and dehumidifiers. Detailed information is given on humidity’s relationship with temperature and electrostatic, as well as how the very specific humidity levels cleanrooms so often need can be consistently achieved.” 

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Ten entrepreneurial life science and technology businesses have begun the immersive Discovery Spark programme, at Kent Discovery Park.

They include: AminoPlus, Bioflares, Gutsee, Peachy Healthcare, Phlow, RS & RS Scientific, Simplex Molecular, SmileScaff, UltraBiOmics and We Are Eden

The free, six-week programme enables early-stage companies to use Discovery Park facilities, people and networks and ends with a pitch day to investors. The winner receiving a prize package worth more than £50k, plus one year of free lab or office space at Discovery Park, together with support and mentoring.

To register early interest in the next round of applications, click here.

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Small, feathered dinosaurs appear to have used their wings to run at speeds previously thought impossible without flight, according to a new study by an international team of scientists, including McGill Biology professor Hans Larsson. The study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), sheds new light on the origins of bird flight, indicating wing usage played a role in locomotion before true flight evolved.  

Focused on a 106-million-year-old fossil trackway in South Korea calculated that one small dinosaur used a ‘flap-running’ technique to achieve remarkable speeds. 

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Edinburgh-based biotech Cytomos has raised £5 million to scale up production of its cell analysis technology (picture, bottom left).

 The funding round was led by existing investors Archangels with participation from Old College Capital, Scottish Enterprise and British Business Bank. Investment will allow Cytomos to drive sales of its first commercial product, benchtop cell analyser Celledonia, built on its cell-analysis technology platform AuraCyt.  

Cytomo employs 21, mostly based at its new premises in Roslin, and expects to add another four staff over the next year as it continues to scale operations.