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UK consortium led by Paraytec Ltd to develop analytical instrumentation to detect aggregation in biopharmaceutical processing

04 Dec 2007 - A multi-disciplinary UK consortium of partners including Avecia, Intertek ASG, Lonza, Paraytec and the University of Bradford has recently been awarded research grants by the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The part funded £1M+ project is to develop novel analytical instrumentation to detect aggregation in biopharmaceutical processing. Aggregation or the 'sticking together' of molecules is a major problem in medicine. At best it can reduce the effectiveness of a drug and at worst it can have detrimental health effects.
 
Professor David Goodall, Chief Scientific Officer at Paraytec commented 'We are delighted to be lead partner in this project. Our award winning ActiPix D100 UV detection technology will play a central role in the novel analytical instrumentation. Our approach will enable simultaneous UV quantification and sizing to allow monomeric species of biopharmaceuticals to be readily distinguished from dimers and aggregates. For bioprocessing companies like Avecia and Lonza, an attraction of this technology is that UV detection is the method of choice for monitoring and quantifying biopharmaceuticals during separation and polishing stages. Thus the ability to gain additional information on size is seen as a significant benefit.'
 
The development project will take place over the next two years. The project will be followed by commercialization of the instrumentation by Paraytec.