Log in
First commercialised in 1996, Quadrupole Orthogonal Acceleration Time of Flight (Q-TOF) Mass Spectrometry (MS) has become the most important of the enabling technologies for structural characterisation in `omics research including Proteomics, Metabolomics, Glycomics and Lipidomics. Prior to this revolutionary development, mass spectrometric methods lacked the sensitivity and resolution needed for unambiguous structural characterisation at the femtomole (10- 15M) level. Today, research is both enabled and accelerated by the use of many thousands of Q-TOF instruments in medical research, cancer research, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, forensics and chemical industry laboratories worldwide. As a consequence of this innovation, which resulted from the research and consultancy advice of Professor Howard Morris, industry has invested in R&D, and highly skilled (mainly British) jobs have been created as well as protected.
The protein research of Imperial's Mass Spectrometry group led to the development of Mass Mapping /Fingerprinting for rapid protein characterisation, and new methods for disulphide bridge and glycosylation assignment. Commercialising these discoveries, the company M-SCAN has developed methods to accelerate industrial research and commercialisation of the next generation of recombinant drug therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies targeting cancers. M-SCAN is the pioneer of Biopharmaceutical Characterisation. It has influenced the regulatory advice and, in the past ten years, has assisted many hundreds of companies worldwide in developing their products for market, leading to the growth of a profitable business. In 2010, SGS S.A., a multinational company that provides inspection, verification, testing and certification services, acquired M-SCAN for an undisclosed sum, satisfying SGS's vision to become one of the top players within the Biologics testing arena.
As sophisticated proteomics methodologies are increasingly embraced by both academics and industry across the globe, growth in this area is set to explode. The University of Dundee has a leadership position in quantitative proteomics technology, through the expertise of Professor Angus Lamond. Dundee Cell Products Ltd is a University of Dundee spin-out company that was created to commercialise life sciences technology and reagents, and to exploit technology and expertise in proteomics developed at the College of Life Sciences. As of 2013, DCP offers >5,000 research products and six contract research services, centred around quantitative proteomics.
Q-Technologies Limited is an award winning company spun out from the University of Liverpool (UoL). The company mission is to bring to market the novel, patented technology developed through research undertaken by Taylor and colleagues in the Mass Spectrometry (MS) research group in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics from 1995. Impact is economic resulting from formation of a profitable business, currently employing 7 people, and via IP assignment generating £1.2M in 2013. Impact is also environmental via the realisation of a novel sensor with unparalleled monitoring capabilities providing improved water quality monitoring.
Combinatorial Domain Hunting (CDH) technology is a technique for producing fragments of proteins that are soluble and tractable for biophysical analysis. It was developed between 1999 and 2008 at Birkbeck College, in the laboratory of Dr Renos Savva. This technology was patented in 2001 and the biotech company Domainex Ltd was then formed to commercialise it. In 2007, Domainex merged with a UCL spinout company, NCE Discovery Ltd. The company has attracted over £3m in investment and employs about 31 people. In addition to its contract research programme, it has developed an in-house drug discovery programme utilising CDH. Early in 2012 a patent was filed on a series of inhibitors of the protein kinases IKK03b5 and TBK1, which are validated drug targets for cancer and inflammation, and the first of these are expected to begin clinical trials in 2014.
Research at the University of Oxford's Glycobiology Institute (OGBI) has led to the development of `state-of-the-art' platform technologies for the analysis of oligosaccharides (sugars) that are linked to proteins and lipids. These enabling technologies have had major impacts worldwide on drug discovery programmes, have enabled robust procedures to be developed for the quality control of biopharmaceutical production, and have been widely adopted by the pharmaceutical industry.
Nu Instruments is a successful mass spectrometer company set up in collaboration with geochemists at the University of Oxford. This joint effort was initially based around the development of a new kind of mass spectrometer; the Nu Plasma. Subsequent research in the UoA demonstrated the capabilities of this instrument for analysis of a large range of isotope systems, leading to its widespread use in geochemical and industrial laboratories around the world. Research in the UoA also aided in creation of new products, further contributing to growth in sales. Nu Instruments have sold over 150 instruments worldwide since 2008, while their turnover grew from £5.2M to £14.7M, and their employee numbers more than doubled to 105.
Research carried out within Imperial's Life Sciences department led to a collection of new kit solutions to screen the crystallisation conditions of various membrane proteins. These screens were exclusively commercialized by Molecular Dimensions, a UK company, in 2002, 2003 and 2008 under license from Imperial College London. They are the primary screening kit in membrane protein crystallization that is commercially available. These screens have helped to screen the crystallization conditions of a wide range of membrane proteins, leading to many new structures. Molecular Dimensions has sold [text removed for publication] screens, worth more than [text removed for publication], to both academia and industry all over the world.
Professor Neil Barclay and Dr Nick Hutchings established Everest Biotech Ltd in 2000 in response to the increasing demand for high quality antibodies within the research community. This successful spin-out company has since become a major power in antibody research and production, a position reflected by its portfolio of more than 6,000 antibodies recognising human, mouse and rat proteins, and the generation of 60 new antibodies each month. With offices in the UK and Nepal, Everest Biotech Ltd also benefits one of the poorest communities in the world by providing additional income to hundreds of farmers in the Nepalese foothills.
Essex research identified a novel bioprocessing matrix which has since been developed into commercial products and recently launched into external markets by Porvair Filtration Group Ltd. The discovery involved the chemical modification of sintered thermoplastic materials in order to attach biological molecules, so conferring highly specific functionalised properties to an otherwise inert base material. This enabled a new approach for protein immobilisation, having technical and practical advantages over existing processes. As a direct result, Porvair has adopted a new technology and invested £900k in R&D over eight years. Essex research has supported a change in business strategy, enabling entry into new markets, which has in turn both safeguarded and created jobs at Porvair.