News

10th May 2021

New England Biolabs® acquires Fluorogenics Ltd.

Strengthening our ability to address the lyophilised reagent needs of molecular diagnostics customers.

IPSWICH, MA, USA (May 10^th, 2021) — New England Biolabs, inc. (NEB^®), a leading supplier of life science reagents, today announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fluorogenics Ltd (FGL), a lyophilisation R&D service company based at the Porton Science Park at Porton Down in the UK. Under the terms of the agreement, FGL will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEB.

With the point-of-care market becoming more focused on the development of robust, accurate and cost-effective diagnostic tests for use outside of traditional hospital and laboratory settings, there is a growing need for reagents that can withstand ambient shipping and storage.

Lyophilisation is the preferred solution and is a well-established technology across a number of industries, making it desirable from a regulatory and feasibility perspective. NEB currently supplies research use only reagents for further development and validation by its customers in diagnostic assays, and is looking to increase its ability to offer lyophilized reagents.

“The acquisition of FGL enables NEB to combine our expertise in enzyme manufacturing and assay development with their expertise in lyophilisation, providing a complete solution for our customers,” states Jim Ellard, CEO of New England Biolabs. “It also further solidifies our ability to service customers in the molecular diagnostics space.”

Martin Lee, Co-founder CEO of Fluorogenics Ltd states “We are delighted to become part of an organisation with which we share ideals, innovation and technical excellence, a passion to make a difference through the delivery of scientific solutions that create value for our customers, and reduce the burden on our planet.”

FGL’s operations will continue without disruption to its existing customers. NEB will be making further investments to strengthen its operations. Further, NEB will be incorporating FGL’s capabilities into its existing OEM and Customized Solutions business, expanding the services that it offers.

Many scientists know NEB as a trusted reagent provider to the life science community. What many do not know is that it also offers a portfolio of products, including PCR/qPCR, LAMP and NGS reagents, that serve as critical components for a wide array of diagnostic products and services.

Extensive molecular biology and enzymology experience provides NEB with the unique ability to help customers solve the challenges inherent in diagnostics assay development and ultimately in scale-up and commercialisation. This capability now also includes lyophilsation.

About New England Biolabs

Established in the mid 1970s, New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB) is the industry leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research.

NEB continues to expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR, gene expression, sample preparation for next generation sequencing, synthetic biology, glycobiology, epigenetics and RNA analysis. Additionally, NEB is focused on strengthening alliances that enable new technologies to reach key market sectors, including molecular diagnostics development.

New England Biolabs is a privately held company, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, USA, and has extensive worldwide distribution through a network of exclusive distributors, agents and eight subsidiaries located in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK. For more information about New England Biolabs, visit www.neb.com

NEB^® and NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS^® are registered trademarks of New England Biolabs, Inc.

About Fluorogenics Ltd

Established in 2011, Fluorogenics’ brings extensive technical expertise to cutting edge sample-to-result integrated analysers and real-time PCR lyophilised reagents.

Fluorogenics serves a growing global market with leading performance ambient stable, designed-for-manufacture solutions through our ISO 13485: 2016 certified facilities and our Admix™ custom product service. For more information about Fluorogenics Ltd, please visit www.fluorogenics.co.uk

ADMIX™ is a trademark of Fluorogenics Ltd.

Contact Information:
Deana D. Martin, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Marketing Communications
New England Biolabs
240 County Road Ipswich, MA 01938, USA

T: 978-380-7464
E: martin@neb.com

February 2021

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Reports Positive Results for KVD900 Phase 2 Demonstrating Statistically and Clinically Significant Responses Across All Endpoints as an Oral On-Demand Treatment for HAE Attacks.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & SALISBURY, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2021-- KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: KALV), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule protease inhibitors, today announced positive topline data from a Phase 2 clinical trial demonstrating statistically and clinically significant efficacy of KVD900 as an oral on-demand treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks.

“We are very excited to share this positive data which shows that KVD900 is the first oral therapy to achieve clinical efficacy results comparable to current injectable therapies, while also demonstrating a promising safety and tolerability profile. The rapid onset of symptom relief and significant reduction in the use of rescue medication show that patients can confidently take KVD900 at the earliest signs of an attack and avoid the burden and discomfort of injections,” said Andrew Crockett, Chief Executive Officer of KalVista. “We look forward to working with regulatory agencies to bring the many advantages of KVD900 to patients as quickly as possible. In parallel, we remain committed to advancing our oral HAE franchise, with submission of an IND this quarter for KVD824 as a prophylactic treatment and ongoing preclinical work on our oral Factor XIIa program.”

The KVD900 Phase 2 was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of KVD900 as an on-demand treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks. The trial completed 53 adult HAE patients from 25 clinical sites in the United States and Europe. The trial included type 1 and type 2 HAE patients who had three attacks in 90 days prior to enrollment. During the first part of the two-part trial, patients received a single, open label 600 mg dose of KVD900 to evaluate pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. All patients then entered part two of the trial, which was a double-blind investigation to assess the efficacy of KVD900 compared to placebo in a two‑attack, crossover design. During part two of the trial, patients took a single dose of 600 mg of KVD900 or placebo within one hour of the start of the first attack. The second attack was dosed with the alternative crossover treatment. Patients were able to use their conventional rescue treatment, as required.

Topline Phase 2 Results

• Attacks treated with KVD900 significantly reduced use of rescue (p=0.001), with 15% of KVD900 treated attacks rescued compared to 30% on placebo at 12 hours.
  • This efficacy benefit of KVD900 was maintained at 24 hours (p=0.0005).
• KVD900 significantly reduced time to onset of symptom relief (p=<0.0001) on a Patient Global Impression of Change scale (PGI-C), with a median time of 1.6 hours versus 9 hours for attacks treated with placebo.
• KVD900 treated attacks achieved symptom relief more quickly than placebo treated attacks (p<0.0001) when assessed using a composite Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score.
• Within 12 hours of oral administration, KVD900 significantly increased the number of stabilized or improved attacks when assessed by a Patient Global Impression of Severity scale (PGI-S) or use of rescue (p<0.0001).
• Additional exploratory endpoints were also statistically significant and favored KVD900 treatment over placebo.
• There were no serious adverse events reported in the trial and no patients withdrew due to adverse events. In the open-label phase, 8 on-treatment drug-related treatment emergent adverse event (TEAE) were experienced by 5 patients. In the crossover phase of the trial, 3 on-treatment drug-related TEAEs were experienced by 3 patients (5.2%) following administration of KVD900, and 2 on-treatment drug-related TEAEs were experienced by 2 patients (3.6%) following administration of placebo.

“Today’s data show that KVD900 halts HAE attack progression and also provides rapid relief by shortening the time to symptom resolution,” said Dr. Emel Aygören-Pürsün, Principal Investigator for the KVD900 Phase 2 Clinical Trial and Head of the HAE Center at the University Hospital Frankfurt. “The results are highly encouraging. For patients, easy and efficacious oral on-demand treatment of attacks is now within reach."

About KVD900

Discovered by KalVista, KVD900 is a novel, potent, oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor and the most advanced compound in our portfolio of candidates for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). KVD900 has received a Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and an approved Pediatric Investigational Plan (PIP) from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

For more information, please visit www.kalvista.com and follow us on Twitter @KalVista and on LinkedIn.

December 2020

Ploughshare Innovations is proud to be part of the team that has enabled a ‘military-grade’ disinfectant spray to fight coronavirus to be made available to the public.

The new disinfectant spray, called VIRUSEND™, has been developed by Pritchard Spray in conjunction with the British Army. Funded in part by both the Army and InnovateUK, VIRUSEND™ is proven to kill SARS-CoV-2, the pandemic strain of the coronavirus, in less than one minute to 99.99% efficacy.

As part of the military’s ongoing support to civil authorities, 50,000 bottles of the spray are being deployed to military personnel across the UK who are working alongside the NHS at coronavirus testing stations.

To help get this game-changing innovation to market, Ploughshare managed the licence to Pritchard Spray on behalf of Ministry of Defence (MOD). Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, CEO at Ploughshare, said:

“There is still much anxiety about the coronavirus, and we’re really pleased this product has made it to market in time to help improve people’s lives. It can be used in your own home and any environment, from supermarkets and gyms to taxis and care homes, where it will provide that extra level of public reassurance when they see it being used.”

VIRUSEND is also undergoing clinical evaluation at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in seven clinical environments including, A&E, Covid positive and low-risk wards, intensive care, and operating theatres. Professor David Jayne, Director of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Surgical MedTech Co-operative said:

“We are delighted to be working in collaboration with the Army and Pritchard on this project. Partnerships are the backbone of the work that we undertake in the Leeds MedTech Co-operative in Surgical Technologies in our ambition to pull novel technologies into clinical practice. If the clinical trials are successful, we hope that the technology will be made widely available to help protect our staff and patients.”

VIRUSEND™ is the only product available commercially in the UK for surfaces which currently meets the two key requirements of the British and European standards, BSEN:14776 and BSEN:16777.

The bottle is also environmentally friendly, it uses compressed air instead of VOC flammable gasses, the plastic spray top is re-useable and the can is fully recyclable. The bottle also uses the Pritchard Spray “Anyway Spray” innovation which allows 100% of the content to be used which reduces wastage of the product, and allows the user to use the spray any orientation, even upside down.

Mr Pritchard said:

“VIRUSEND will change the way we combat this and all future pandemics. It offers a low risk to health combined with maximum lethality, proven efficacy, compliance with the correct standards and a very short contact time.

“We want to give the UK the tools it needs to defeat coronavirus and get back on its feet as soon as possible.”

For more information, and to purchase VIRUSEND™, visit www.virusend.co.uk

November 2020

PSP-based, Chemical & Technical Developments (CTD), has been active with germanium for over 30 years supplying germanium dioxide, germanium tetrachloride, germanium metal and other germanium compounds.

Currently, CTD is recycling germanium metal from redundant and mainly defence related applications for re-use in infrared and solar panel devices. Its products are exported to Europe, North America and Asia.

Germanium is a silvery white metal. Its appearance is similar to chromium or stainless steel, but it is very brittle and if a piece is dropped, it shatters like glass.

The metal and its compounds have numerous and varied uses. Germanium metal lenses are used in infrared systems which are found in applications for missile guidance, night sight vision systems and other security devices.

Germanium dioxide is a white powder and is used as a catalyst in the production of plastic for soft drinks bottles.

Germanium tetrachloride is an acrid and fuming liquid and is used as an additive in the optic fibre production process. Another application of germanium metal is in the production of solar panels to generate electricity.

For more information about Chemical and Technical Developments Ltd, please visit: http://www.chemicalandtechnical.com/

October 2020

Optimal X's spinoff and sister company, Resilient Nutrition, has recently launched its “Long Range Fuel” product after extensive testing with the Royal Marines.

The product is going to be part of a new rations trial that will be tested over the winter that is designed to provide a nutritionally complete, performance enhancing food solution at a much-reduced weight for sustained military operations.

Ali Macdonald, Co-founder & CEO at Resilient Nutrition and Founder & CEO at Optimal X, Human Performance Programs at humanOS, said:

“We are really proud to be partnering with the Department for International Trade and the Export Support Team to bring Resilient Nutrition's innovative sustainable performance nutrition system to the international market. Working with the Department for International Trade (DIT), UK Defence & Security Exports and the South West Regional Growth Hub has allowed us to accelerate access to the specialist support we need to grow the business, create new jobs in the UK and bring innovative products and services to the international market. Special thanks to Paul Scholfield, Sue Tisdall and Andrew Mercer for the help so far and we look forward to getting our British made products into the EST Showcase. If you are interested in partnering with, investing in or working at Resilient Nutrition get in touch.”

07 August 2020

Porton Science Park businesses providing Science and Technology opportunities to the next generation…

Several businesses at Porton Science Park are currently availing work placements to third year Science and Engineering university students.

The scheme sees six students from universities across the country on placements at some of the Science Park’s leading companies including Cervus Defence, which specialises in data science and data analytics; KalVista, a pharmaceutical company currently undertaking clinical trials for its therapies; and Fluorogenics which manufactures biological reagents for the Life Sciences sector.

The undergraduates on work placements are studying Computer Science, Chemistry and Biomedical Science respectively and some of whom may secure full-time employment at the science park on the back of their placements and successful completion of their degrees in 12 to 24 months' time.

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council and Cabinet Member for Economic Development, said: “Porton Science Park has gone from strength to strength since it opened in 2018, and these six work placements represent a significant increase on previous years, so it shows that businesses at the park are growing and prospering.

“Thanks to significant investment from Wiltshire Council and our partners, Porton Science Park has affirmed its position as a nationally important centre of excellence in specialist health, life science and defence and security sectors.

“The park has proven to be a real success for south Wiltshire, and has brought significant high value employment to the area.”

Porton Science Park opened in 2018 at Porton Down Science Campus - which is also home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Public Health England (PHE) Porton - and it already has more than 130 people working at the site.

The first £10m phase at the science park opened with funding from Wiltshire Council, the local Growth Fund and the European Regional Development fund, working closely with the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP).

23 June 2020

MOD funds predictive sepsis test for coronavirus patients

Dstl spin-out company, Ploughshare Innovations, funds revolutionary test that can predict whether coronavirus patients will develop sepsis before symptoms appear.

Ploughshare Innovations, a Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) spin-out company, has funded the development of a revolutionary test that has the potential to predict whether coronavirus patients will develop sepsis before symptoms appear.

£200,000 of initial seed funding has been awarded to Presymptom Health, a medical diagnostics company in Wiltshire founded by scientists to develop ground-breaking innovations in the medical testing arena.

The sepsis research is based on 10 years of work conducted at Dstl. This research suggests the test will be able to determine whether a patient will develop sepsis up to three days before symptoms appear. The prediction will provide extra time to deliver the optimal treatment, thus improving patient recovery rates and reducing treatment costs.

Defence Minister Jeremy Quin said:

“It is encouraging to see Dstl partnering with the private sector to spearhead vital scientific knowledge that will help many coronavirus patients during this pandemic.

“Dstl scientists are some of the UK’s best and brightest minds. We are grateful for their commitment to developing powerful medical technology that will save lives across the country.”

The first phase for developing the prototype diagnostic test will last six months. This will include trials with coronavirus patients and testing samples from a Dstl biobank. Up to 300 patients are expected to be involved in the trial, with a further 200 samples from the biobank being used to establish the test’s effectiveness.

Gary Aitkenhead, Chief Executive of Dstl, said:

“The work we do at Dstl is fundamental to the defence and security of the UK and we are constantly seeking ways in which our technologies can be applied to deliver impact to the wider society.

“Here, we have a unique concept that has the potential to improve the lives of thousands and Dstl is proud to be the science behind this novel development.”

Roman Lukaszewski, lead scientist on the sepsis work at Dstl, said:

“This funding is fantastic news. It will see a programme of work that is backed by the most comprehensive Sepsis study ever conducted and one that I have personally been involved with for more than 10 years finally come to fruition. It will be an amazing achievement and will have benefits for the treatment of Sepsis on a global scale.”

Presymptom Health will recruit a core external team from industry who will provide general management, clinical project management, regulatory and quality assurance and key R&D diagnostic development skills. The test prototype itself will be developed by expert technicians. The team will operate from offices at Porton Science Park and the London area.

Iain Miller, Presymptom Health’s CEO, said:

“This is a significant step to help in the fight against coronavirus. Presymptom Health develops new tests to determine the presence of diseases in patients before they show symptoms.

“Having the opportunity to leverage Dstl’s ground-breaking work and apply this Sepsis technology to aid clinicians dealing with the pandemic is deeply important to us. We are confident this technology will provide vital and life-saving information when it is most needed.”

Ploughshare Innovations is the technology transfer office for Dstl and is responsible for the commercialisation of the test. Ploughshare has established Presymptom Health as the vehicle for getting the tests to market.

Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, Ploughshare’s CEO, said:

“It is unusual for Ploughshare to make investments such as this, however, given how much potential this technology has we saw the value in accelerating its development.

“Beyond coronavirus, the test will have the potential to help with the treatment of the 49 million people worldwide affected by Sepsis every year, and to also prepare us for future pandemics.”

Sepsis has been linked to a number of coronavirus fatalities. A recent Lancet article which analysed the outbreak in Wuhan, China, found that sepsis was the most frequently observed complication and that all Wuhan patients who lost their lives to coronavirus by February 2020 had sepsis.

For more information about Ploughshare Innovations, please visit https://www.ploughshareinnovations.com/

20 February 2020

PSP is set to gain international recognition after it was awarded a coveted Life Sciences Opportunity Zone status. It was one of only six sites in the UK out of dozens that applied, which were successfully granted the status.

Life Sciences Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “The UK is home to one of the strongest, most vibrant health and life science industries globally, with discoveries and improvements in health diagnosis transforming people’s lives.

“Collaboration is vital to growing this sector and this new £10million scheme will support the exchanging of ideas, knowledge and skills between researchers and businesses while encouraging strong collaboration with them, the NHS and the Government.”

The Government scheme allows partners on the site to showcase the capabilities of the Porton Down Science Campus to an international audience, particularly overseas Life Sciences companies looking to expand into the UK.

PSP, unveiled a couple of years ago, is a new addition to the established Porton Down Science Campus which is home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Public Health England, Porton.

Located near Salisbury in south Wiltshire, the first phase of the science park included new incubation and grow-on space totalling 3,950m2.

The science park’s current building houses everything from Life Sciences, Pharma and Bioscience to Defence Technology – https://www.portonsciencepark.com/tenants/

The first phase of development at PSP was funded by Wiltshire Council, the local Growth Fund via the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP), and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the European Structural and Investment Fund.

Cllr Philip Whitehead, leader of Wiltshire Council says: “Porton Science Park is attracting the brightest and best and is building a reputation as a place where ground-breaking research into Life Sciences and Technology is taking place”

He added that the new status was “an opportunity for this jewel in Wiltshire’s crown to be on an international stage bringing high skilled jobs to the county and a real boost to Wiltshire’s economy.”

Paddy Bradley, Director of the Swindon & Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP), added: “It will support our efforts in promoting the world class capabilities at Porton to an international audience, bringing more highly skilled jobs to the south Wiltshire area.”

Professor Andy Bell, Chief Technical Officer at Dstl said: “Dstl is committed to the successful development of the Porton Science Park and wider campus. The Porton Science Park development complements our own facilities and further secures the campus as a centre of excellence.”

Alex Sienkiewicz, Director of Corporate Affairs for Public Health England, Porton, said: “We congratulate Porton Science Park colleagues on securing this prestigious award and the undoubted benefits and opportunities that it will bring for all campus partners, including increased international promotion of our collective world-class capabilities.”

Cara Charles-Barks, Chief Executive Officer, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust commented: “Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust fully supports this announcement. Life Sciences Opportunity Zone status will benefit our community and Salisbury hospital, by attracting and retaining the best people in live and work here. This is a major step forwards in making Salisbury a centre of excellence for health, which I welcome.”

07 January 2020

Wiltshire Council’s cabinet has today agreed to invest £2.5m of capital funding to create an Innovation Centre (Building B) at PSP. A further £2.5m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will combine to create a second building that will add expansion space, additional employment from the scheme, and enable an economy of scale.

Once completed, the new Innovation Centre, which constitutes phase two of the site’s development project, will provide specialist business support, training and development for scientific businesses on the Porton Down Science Campus.

This will help ensure that businesses already situated at PSP will be able to stay on-site to share support and specialist technologies.

The initial £2.5m of the Council’s capital funding matches the £2.5m of ERDF for the project, which will not be affected by Brexit, and is subject to the confirmation of the Council’s matched funding.

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “Porton Science Park has been a real success for south Wiltshire, bringing high value employment to the area and consolidating it as a nationally important centre of excellence in specialist health, life science and defence and security sectors.

“The new Innovation Centre, which we hope will begin construction later in 2020, will build on the success of the first building at PSP, and enable business there to share resources and technologies, and establish links to higher education institutions, researchers and academics.”

PSP opened in January 2018 on the Porton Down Science Campus which is also home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Public Health England (PHE) Porton.

PSP’s first building (Building A) already has more than 170 people working from the site.

The first £10m phase opened with funding from Wiltshire Council, the local Growth Fund and the ERDF working closely with the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP).

Please contact PSP for more information about future tenancy opportunities in the Innovation Centre, Building B.