Craigavon-based biotech firm Almac Sciences has been given £2m in Invest NI grants to accelerate its enzyme research programme.
Enzyme research has yielded a number of major advances in biotech over the past several years, from industrial catalysts that improve existing processes to new ways to manufacture drugs at lower costs. Almac Sciences, a member of the Almac Group, has been developing a new digital platform for enzyme chemistry with R&D support from Invest NI.
The company has now been awarded £2m in grants from Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund to accelerate the development of its platform, which brings together computation, metagenomics, biology, and chemistry research. The platform aims to help develop discover new enzymes that can replace costly chemical processes used to make drugs today.
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The funded project will involve developing an enzyme identification platform using Almac’s existing data. The firm expects that the new platform will help both Almac and the wider pharmaceutical industry develop new enzyme-based production methods that are simpler, cheaper, and produce less polluting waste.
Professor Tom Moody, VP Technology Development and Commercialisation, Almac Sciences and Arran Chemical Company commented: "This project, and the related INI support, will be vital to ensure we can achieve our aspiration of becoming a global leader in biotechnology. The ambitious project will bring together each of the critical elements to accelerate enzyme identification and discovery and will de-risk the enzyme development pipelines for Almac. As a result of this unique project there will be both major academic and commercial benefits, providing significant growth opportunity for the NI Bio-economy and the wider economy."
Source: Written based on press release
