Latest Lab Talk News in Brief: infrastructure, development, sustainability, services

The companies said their integrated solution is already deployed by five of the world's ten largest pharmaceutical companies. The partnership combines laboratory automation and orchestration software with technologies designed to support connected laboratory environments and increasingly complex workflows across multiple instruments and software platforms.

Korecyte Bio has been spun out from King's College London, with support from Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult through investment and transactional expertise. The company is developing HypoxiCAR, a tumour-activated CAR-T platform designed to activate T cells only in the low-oxygen environments typically found in solid tumours while remaining inactive in healthy tissue. The approach is intended to improve safety and effectiveness in the treatment of hard-to-treat solid cancers.

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has secured £1m to establish HyDecarb, an open-access research capability focused on decarbonising industrial natural gas. Backed by the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the facility will provide an industrial-scale testbed for manufacturers to evaluate hydrogen fuel-switching technologies.

Caroline Aiken has been appointed technical director at Cormica. The newly created role is intended to strengthen technical collaboration across the organisation. Aiken brings more than 15 years of experience supporting pharmaceutical companies within a CRO environment and has led the physical characterisation team at Cormica Bradford for the past eight years.

HutanBio has signed a memorandum of understanding with Utopia World Investment in Oman as it moves towards commercial deployment of its algae-based oils. The Cambridge-founded biotechnology company is developing sustainable fuel alternatives for aviation, maritime and heavy transport applications. Under the agreement, Wakud International is expected to act as an offtaker for the company's algae-derived oil.

Broken String Biosciences has appointed Bruce Eaton as chairman of the board. The appointment follows recent leadership changes and supports the company's plans to expand commercialisation of its INDUCE-seq gene editing platform. Eaton brings more than 30 years of biotechnology industry experience and has founded several life sciences companies.

Total Clean Air has launched Rent a Cleanroom, a service designed to provide rapid access to validated cleanroom facilities. The offering is aimed at start-ups, manufacturers and project teams requiring compliant cleanroom capacity without the upfront investment and implementation timescales associated with permanent facilities.

Professor Tony James of the University of Bath has been named an honorary fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society. James was recognised for contributions to fluorescence chemical sensing, molecular identification and diagnostic chemistry. The award is presented to internationally recognised scientists who have supported collaboration with the Chinese Chemical Society.

Adamo Foods has secured funding through a €10m project supported by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking.The project, known as MycoStruct, will support commercial-scale deployment of the company's fermentation technology for alternative proteins and involves a consortium of 12 organisations from across Europe.

PL BioScience has appointed Maik W. Jornitz to its board of directors. Jornitz has held senior roles across the bioprocessing sector, including positions at Sartorius and G-CON Manufacturing, and was founder of BioProcess Resources.

Markes has manufactured its one millionth thermal desorption sorbent sampling tube.The milestone comes nearly three decades after the company launched its thermal desorption sampling technology, which is now used in applications ranging from air monitoring and occupational hygiene to PFAS research and breath analysis.

Gaelic Laboratories and Athlone Laboratories have launched a joint website following their recent integration.The platform combines information on manufacturing capabilities, packaging services, analytical support and regulatory expertise across both organisations. The companies said further integration activities are already under way.

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has advised arranging banks on financing supporting GSK's proposed US$10.6bn acquisition of Nuvalent.The transaction involves the acquisition of the Nasdaq-listed oncology company and is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions.

And finally ... Mooshie, a black Labrador named in honour of Vamoosh, is progressing through the puppy programme at assistance dog charity Support Dogs.Staff at Vamoosh, part of Cares Laboratory, have raised more than £27,000 for the charity over the past three years, enough to fund the training of an assistance dog. Support Dogs trains specialist assistance dogs for autistic children and people living with epilepsy or physical disabilities.

Pic (clockwise, top left): Vamoosh, Markes, AMRC, Caroline Aiken (Cormica)