Eden Biodesign and Aquapharm BioDiscovery join forces to help combat MRSA
September 2006
Eden Biodesign (Liverpool, UK), a leading
provider of development and manufacturing services for new medicines,
announced today that it has been selected by Aquapharm BioDiscovery (Oban,
UK), a leading marine biotechnology company, to develop AQP001, a novel
protein drug candidate.
AQP001 is a natural marine product identified by Aquapharm BioDiscovery
scientists as a broad spectrum antibacterial agent active against bacteria
resistant to standard antibiotics, including MRSA.
Eden Biodesign will use its extensive expertise in protein drug development
and manufacturing to assist Aquapharm BioDiscovery in large scale
standardised production of AQP001 required for further testing and clinical
development of this new therapeutic.
Dr Crawford Brown, CEO of Eden Biodesign commented: “To our knowledge, this
is the first instance of a protein pharmaceutical derived from a marine
organism entering commercial development and we are delighted to utilise our
expertise and experience in support of Aquapharm BioDiscovery.”
Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, CEO of Aquapharm BioDiscovery said: “This deal
represents a major step forward in the commercialisation of natural products
from marine organisms. Aquapharm BioDiscovery research already identified
new compounds with pharmaceutical and industrial potential from marine
organisms and the company is well positioned to commercially exploit this
valuable natural resource.”
Aquapharm Biodiscovery has been awarded a grant from the National
Biomanufacturing Centre
(NBC) Access Fund administered by the Northwest Regional Development Agency
(NWDA) towards the cost of the project. The project will be executed at the
state of the art National Biomanufacturing Centre (NBC), a £34.25 million
initiative developed and owned by the NWDA, which is being officially opened
later this year.
Dr Linda Magee, NWDA Biotechnology Sector Director & Head of Bionow,
commented: “We are delighted that the National Biomanufacturing Centre is
able to provide practical help to the UK biotech industry in
commercialisation of their discoveries and wish Aquapharm every success with
the development of this exciting project.”
Eden Biodesign is the operator of the NBC on behalf of NWDA.
Ends
For further details contact: Charmaine Colvin on 0870 240 5536 or e-mail
charmaine@redheadpr.co.uk
Notes to editors
The National Biomanufacturing Centre
The £34.25 million National Biomanufacturing Centre is a Government-funded
initiative led by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA)
additionally funded through the European Regional Development Fund and the
Department of Trade and Industry and aims to establish England’s Northwest
as one of the foremost biomanufacturing centres in Europe and will be
officially opened in November 2006.
The centre provides the expertise and facilities to support new and existing
biotechnology companies, offering product development services designed to
fill in the skill and resource gaps that exist within these organisations.
It also provides training in biomanufacturing and analytical sciences,
delivering the skilled workforce required to expand the UK biopharmaceutical
sector.
There is also an Access Fund of nearly £3 million funded by the Department
of Trade and Industry and the European Regional Development Fund which is
available to qualifying small-to-medium companies and research groups in the
biotechnology sector to assist them in purchasing development and clinical
manufacturing services from the Centre.
Eden Biodesign
Eden Biodesign is a successful international biopharmaceutical development
and manufacturing services business that provides ‘state of the art’
development and manufacturing services to biotech clients across Europe, the
USA and Asia. It promises all clients a committed service plus the knowledge
and expertise to guide clients through process development, manufacturing,
regulatory and technology transfer challenges.
The company uses the principles of ‘Good Science’ at every step of
biopharmaceutical development to design programmes and processes that
deliver clinically and commercially valuable products, with an accomplished
and attentive level of project management that clients need.
Although the NBC will be officially opening on 1 November 2006, Eden
Biodesign has been operating at the NBC since the beginning of this year,
working with clients including SR Pharma, Onyvax and Liverpool University.
Aquapharm BioDiscovery
Aquapharm BioDiscovery is the UK’s premier marine biotechnology company
discovering new compounds and novel production systems from the microbes of
the marine environment. The company was founded in 2000 in Scotland by Dr
Andrew Mearns Spragg and Dr Kathryn Fraser, both PhD graduates of Heriot-Watt
University of Edinburgh.
Aquapharm BioDiscovery has a substantial collection of unique marine
bacteria and fungi obtained from samples collected from diverse and extreme
marine habitats, including the arctic and the deep sea. Aquapharm
BioDiscovery uses its patented technology for manipulation of marine
microbial communities to stimulate the development and production of new
molecules for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and industrial applications. To
date, Aquapharm BioDiscovery has identified novel antibiotic and anti-fungal
agents, new high yield carotenoid pigments sources, new enzymes and other
functional molecules. In addition to its own research activities, Aquapharm
collaborates with external companies including Dowpharma to search
Aquapharm’s proprietary libraries for compounds of interest to partner
company’s R&D programs.
