Issue 29Spring 2011

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10tiny lights making a big impact in life

science applications

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Connecting, communicating & informing life sciences in Scotland

New biologicsAngel Biotechnology equipped to respond to changing market needs

Matters of the hearthospital one of largest cardiothoracic centres in Europe

Grampian BioPartnersscientists turned investors provide invaluable

help to SMEs

Stepping out Glasgow Caledonian University co-ordinates

multinational, interdisciplinary project

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Sharing reaps rewards

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AN UNfortUNAtE ACCIdENt involving me, a mountain in Lanzarote and the force of gravity meant that I had an unexpected trip (pun intended!) to my local hospital earlier this week. Thankfully this is something I have not had to do for many years and it was a revelation. The courtesy and kindness of the staff was exemplary and the facilities tip-top. I was admitted, examined, x-rayed and ‘stookied’ (eg plaster cast) all in an hour. I was especially taken by the fact that the x-ray was real-time and shared remotely with the orthopaedic consultant - all part of a seamless and speedy service.

This brought home to me just how much sharing of information and knowledge is changing the face of healthcare and the life sciences. It also chimes with a number of recent developments within Nexxus.

Early in February, Nexxus along with SULSA, SINAPSE and the Scottish Bioinformatics Forum was pleased to host a visit by members of the European ShareBiotech project. The aim of the project is to create an international network of bioscience facilities across the Atlantic region of Europe to the

benefit of industry and academia. It was a busy and very productive three days and thank you to everyone involved, especially to Den Barrault of SULSA for project managing the visit.

Scotland has placed itself in a globally competitive position through research collaboration and Nexxus aims to develop even closer links with our research pools and the Universities they represent.

February also saw our second event with the WS Society for the Life Sciences and Law Network (LSLN). The LSLN is based upon the premise that sharing knowledge between Scotland’s life scientists and the country’s legal professionals is key to development and investment in the sector. We were fortunate to secure the services of Professor Andy Porter and James Shaw of Grampian BioPartners (see page 12). They gave a thought-provoking presentation on de-risking life science investment by sharing knowledge on the

fundamental value of a piece of science and research. I would suggest that both Andy’s presentation and NuCana BioMed Hugh Griffith’s call for a ‘proof of relevance’ fund at the Scottish Enterprise Life Sciences dinner, give a clear direction for the future of investment in our sector. It is one that we need to work together on to make happen.

As part of the process of encouraging investment in the life sciences in Scotland, Nexxus organised a delegation of Scottish SMEs to the OneNucleus Genesis conference in London at the end of last year. This event is a ‘must-do’ in many people’s calendars. It proved to be a winner with many new contacts made and contracts secured (see page 15 for details of just one success story). Currently we are working with Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International and using our strong links with BayBio - the San Francisco Bay area life sciences network - to secure face-to-face meetings for Scottish SMEs with

Other Scottish EventsAnnual SULSA Symposium7 June 2011, Glasgowwww.sulsa.ac.uk/symposium2011

Nexxus Events March 2011 CoMMErCIALISAtIoN StrAtEGIES for MoLECULAr dIAGNoStICS Glasgow tECHNoLoGY-PUSH or CLINICAL-PULL How to deliver innovation in NHS Scotland, Edinburgh NEXXUS BIoSCIENCE CLUB Industry Skills for Young Academics, Glasgow

April 2011 CoMPANIES SHoWCASE Edinburgh

NEXXUS BIoSCIENCE CLUB Career Paths in Life Sciences, Glasgow

May 2011 SME tooLBoX Drug development/Clinical Trials, Glasgow

HorIZoNS IN MEdtECH Glasgow 6tH ANNUAL CoNVErGENt tECHNoLoGY SHoWCASE ANd CoNfErENCE* Healthcare Efficiency through Prevention and Intervention, Stirling (Jointly organised by EDTC, SHIL, SUIP, Wellness & Health Innovation and Nexxus) June 2011 NEXXUS BBQ Glasgow

For further info about the above free (except*) events see www.nexxusscotland.com

European ShareBiotech Group meets with Dave Wyper, SINAPSE

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boutique Venture Capital investors in the West Coast USA. Watch this space for further developments.

In addition, Nexxus is working with partner organisations such as the Scottish Stem Cell Network (SSCN) and Scottish Health Innovations (SHIL) to provide a series of industry related events on crucial topics such as quality management and regulatory compliance. We are keen to continue with this and would be pleased to work with other members of the community.

Linus Pauling once commented that the best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. I am

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tHE ZEBrAfISH, Danio rerio, is a powerful model organism for biomedical research. Its genome is known and there are many genome features conserved in humans. Accordingly, Zebrafish are increasingly used as a model to study human diseases and to date cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegenerative and infectious disease and visual disorders have been studied. It is a particularly attractive experimental system due to its rapid and external development, coupled with optical clarity during embryogenesis.

The Glasgow Caledonian University Zebrafish Facility is an advanced high capacity aquarium system developed for the maintenance of wildtype and transgenic lines of Zebrafish. The University’s Facility has equipment necessary for the production of transgenic animals and for morpholino knock-downs. It aims to provide a cost effective, high quality alternative model organism which will meet the needs of researchers throughout the West of Scotland.

Currently, Dr Xinhua Shu’s group is studying the function of retinal disease genes in Zebrafish. His work includes knock-down of candidate genes, construction of transgenic fish lines with expression

of disease-associated variants and large-scale screening of a small chemical library for the identification of therapeutic candidates. Professor John Craft meantime will use the system to study reproduction in fish and will characterise the mechanisms of differential expression of the multiple vitellogenin genes and define the function of each gene. He also intends to introduce the recently developed technology for gene knockouts using zinc finger nucleases.

The University is keen to support research groups interested in undertaking Zebrafish research in experimental design and acquisition of preliminary data. Investigators wishing to make use of the facility or to discuss either service or collaborative arrangements should contactDr Xinhua Shu or Professor John Craft (T: 0141 331 8763 /T: 0141 331 3220E: Xinhua.Shu@gcu.ac.uk /E: J.A.Craft@gcu.ac.uk)for more information.

Zebrafish Facilitysure everyone working in life science would agree with this observation but would also conclude that it is not just the quantity, but also the quality, of thought that counts. In Scotland we are fortunate to have both and it is by linking together and sharing ideas that we will further enhance our position as a global player.

Graeme BoyleDirectorT: 0131 200 6411 orT: 0141 300 5381E: g.boyle@nexxusscotland.com

ProfESSor HING LEUNG, of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, has discovered how a protein present in prostate cancer cells drives growth of the disease.

ERK5 is a protein within a cell and works as part of the ‘information highway’ to control the growth and development of cancer. According to Professor Leung’s study, ERK5 is present in abnormally high levels of prostate cancer, including invasive cancer which has spread to other parts of the body. It is also present in relapsed cancer following previous hormone therapy.

He explains, ‘When the effects of ERK5 are reduced in the laboratory, we observed less ‘invasion’ by the cancer cells.This supports the idea that medicine or drugs blocking ERK5 might be useful in

the clinic. In addition, when we increased the amount of ERK5 in prostate cancer cells, again in the laboratory, they developed more cancer outwith the prostate. This makes ERK5 a very exciting molecule to develop new treatment on.’

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the UK. Each year 36,000 men are diagnosed with the disease - 2,500 of these are in Scotland.The study, reported in the British Journal of Cancer in February has been described by researchers and cancer charities as ‘extremely exciting’. The research was part funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the Beatson Institute and the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Cancer discovery

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MedTech support for Scottish SMEsA NEW initiative will assist Scottish SMEs to work with the University of Strathclyde in the development of new medical technology, products and services. The initiative, Strathclyde MedTech, will make funding available to established medical technology companies, or companies in their supply chain, or those companies interested in entering the field from other industries such as electronics, optoelectronics, wellness, textiles, plastics and automotive components.

The funders of the new initiative are the Scottish Government (SEEKIT) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), who have backed it with nearly £700,000 over three years.

Over the past four years, Strathclyde Institute of Medical Devices (SIMD) has successfully drawn in many international companies in the medical field, resulting in the development of a wide range of technologies. These include a portable life support system, an award-winning wound diagnostic device, novel blood separation/salvage technology and transdermal monitoring technology among others. Several of these have been through clinical trials and are CE marked products which are either on the market, or will be shortly. Strathclyde MedTech, which is hosted by SIMD, will

focus additional resources on stimulating Scottish technology SMEs to expand their portfolios and, ultimately, have a positive impact on patient health and the wider economy.

Professor Trish Connolly, Director of SIMD noted, ‘There is ample opportunity for further product development within the sector where there is a real clinical need and consequently market pull. Care must be taken in the course of development ensuring regulatory, materials, modelling, prototyping, manufacturing, sterilisation, packaging and other practical considerations are not overlooked. This is a complex specialist area in which we, with our core expertise of taking multidisciplinary, clinically-driven, medical device projects to pre-market demonstrators can greatly facilitate. We can provide a pathway to facilitate medical device clinical investigations and on to product launch.’

Strathclyde MedTech’s Industrial Manager, Dr Alan Lindsay said, ‘SMEs can find it difficult to develop the sometimes complex convergent technologies (medicine/engineering/science) and products sought by clinicians, cost conscious health services and patients. SMEs need help in accessing clinical and other specialist opinions at an early stage and also later in the development cycle. Strathclyde MedTech staff will

also be able to help companies form an overview of regulatory needs and ethics allowing them to plan for new product R&D.’

Overall, Strathclyde MedTech will provide companies with advice and support, as well as encouraging Scottish firms to collaborate with the University and other companies. Funding is available to help Scottish SMEs work with the University of Strathclyde through consultancy or research projects, including feasibility studies, prototyping and testing/facilities access for technologies in areas including diagnostics, cardiovascular devices, rehabilitation/assisted living, drug delivery, biomaterials, neuroprosthetics and cell/tissue engineering.

The University has a strong track record in the development of medical technology, with more than 80 scientists and engineers, spanning a dozen departments, collaborating with a network of approximately 50 clinicians. One of the great strengths of its wide base of expertise is the diversity

of projects it can address. In the recent past it has delivered consultancy projects ranging from a few days on medical applications of laser technology, scoping diagnostic applications for a company’s surface treatment technology to longer studies on bench testing renal dialysis pumps as well as more involved collaborative developments involving multiple partners and lasting two to three years.

In terms of funding available,an average of ca £5K per project would be the norm in the first instance, however if a company can demonstrate a commitment to strengthen its relationship with the University, eg by jointly applying for further research and knowledge exchange funding, including KTPs, then higher levels of funding will be considered.

For further information on working with Strathclyde MedTech contact Alan LindsayT: 0141 548 4110E: alan.j.lindsay@strath.ac.ukW: www.strath.ac.uk/simd

Trish Connolly

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Advanced biologics specialists

now in an excellent position to become a market leader in providing the specialist services required for the manufacture of new biologic products. Angel’s business development and project management philosophy is to develop a collaborative relationship with each client and to fully understand their specific requirements. The development, production and quality departments work closely to develop bespoke documentation and process improvements to assist clients translate their new technologies into regulatory compliant, and commercially viable, therapeutic products.

Recent advances in cell biology have led to the development of therapeutic products containing, or entirely composed of, viable cells. These new cell based treatments are showing great promise, and have the potential to treat a range of conditions, and - in particular - the unmet clinical needs associated with degenerative tissue diseases. The manufacture of these cell therapy products poses specific logistical, regulatory and quality challenges, in addition to the technical challenges associated with the manufacture of all biotechnology products.

Angel supports innovative companies working in the field of regenerative medicine, an example of which is ReNeuron Group plc. Angel has been ReNeuron’s manufacturing partner for over three years, producing the GMP grade stem cell therapy

for their Phase I clinical trial. The Pilot Investigation of Stem Cells in Stroke (PISCES) trial is the world’s first fully regulated clinical trial of a neural stem cell therapy for disabled stroke patients. The first patient in the PISCES trial was safely discharged two days after the straightforward neurosurgical procedure was conducted at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. ReNeuron recently announced that, following a positive independent safety review of progress of the first patient treated, the clinical trial would progress to treatment of the remainder of the first patient cohort.

Gordon Sherriff, Chief Operating Officer of Angel, said ‘Angel is very pleased to be manufacturing the ReN001 stem cell product for the clinical trial. This is a world first, an important landmark in the development of cellular therapies and a tribute to the dedication of the ReNeuron and Angel teams. The critical nature of the work has drawn upon Angel’s technical and regulatory expertise to provide ReNeuron with clinical material of the highest quality to

ANGEL BIotECHNoLoGY HoLdINGS PLC is an established cGMP contract manufacturer specialising in the provision of advanced biologics, including autologous and allogeneic cell therapy products, stem cells, cellular vaccines, recombinant proteins and bacteriophage. Angel supports biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies worldwide and offers a full range of services from process development through pre-clinical, clinical and commercial manufacture.

Angel’s manufacturing facility, located at Pentlands Science Park on the outskirts of Edinburgh, is regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Angel has held a Manufacturer’s Authorisation for Investigational Medicinal Products since 2005 and a Manufacturer’s/ Importer’s Licence for the manufacture of commercial products since 2008, enabling the provision of an integrated development and manufacturing service through all stages of the product lifecycle.

Initially listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) in 2005, Angel announced a share placing in January 2011 which raised £1.9M. The proceeds of this placing will be used to fund an increase in development and manufacturing capacities, strategic capital investments and additional working capital to support business growth, enabling Angel to continue to respond to the changing market needs.

Angel has invested in a highly skilled management team with considerable experience in biomanufacturing, and is

conduct its trial. This is Angel’s core competence and commencement of this clinical trial further strengthens Angel’s track record of working with advanced therapy medicinal products, supporting our client’s clinical development from Phase I through to commercial launch.’

Despite the number of organisations working in the field of regenerative medicine, very few have commercialised cell therapy products. It is accepted within the industry that if regenerative medicine can achieve the projected therapeutic outcomes and overcome the various regulatory hurdles, then it is likely to have a profound impact on the healthcare industry. With Angel’s help, it is hoped that many more therapeutic products will enter the market, and make a real difference to the lives of patients and their families worldwide.

For further information contact Susan McKee, Business Development ManagerT: 0131 445 6077E: susan.mckee@angelbio.comW: www.angelbio.com

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Boost for the life science sectorin the Helsinki RegiontHE HELSINKI (capital) Region of Finland offers an attractive environment for biosciences. The HealthBIO Centre of Expertise serves as an independent contact point for biotechnology in the Helsinki Region, focusing on health applications in biotechnology and associated business areas. The Helsinki Metropolitan Region cluster is managed by Programme Director Riikka Paasikivi of Culminatum Innovation Oy Ltd.

The major target group of HealthBIO in the Helsinki Region is local biotechnology-related companies. The programme supports these companies so that they can develop their ideas, grow and enter new markets. A further aim of the programme is to support the creation of service enterprises derived from higher education research, and the transfer of technology from higher education institutions to businesses.

Services for companies

A good example of the practical initiatives of HealthBIO in promoting and strengthening the life science sector in the Helsinki Region is the ‘Boost Biobusiness’ project. Companies selected for the project received services and coaching based on their particular needs, for example with updating their business plan, raising funding, upgrading quality systems or partnering for R&D or market entry.

A survey conducted a couple of years ago showed that financing was a big issue for biotech

companies in the region. In response to this the HealthBIO Cluster arranges financing events. Financiers from all over Europe have been invited to these meetings.

The service sector is growing fast within life sciences and HealthBIO has gathered together a number of smaller service organisations into larger groups, consolidating their services into a bigger package. This makes it easier for the companies to attract international customers and partners.

Other methods used in serving companies are seminars, workshops, co-participation at international fairs and exhibitions, lecture courses and forecasting studies. HealthBIO in the Helsinki Metropolitan Region has a pool of 50 consultants providing services demanded by local SMEs.

Biobusiness.fi provides both local and international companies with web-based services. It offers news and information on health-related biotechnology in the Helsinki Region and serves companies, universities, research institutions, and other interested groups operating in the field.

New opportunitiesfor students

As a way to support and stimulate a new generation of life science scientists and businesses in the Helsinki area, HealthBIO has established a business education project for graduate students called ‘PhDs to Business Life’.

The project enhances the employment opportunities of life science PhDs by providing training in business and industry skills, career coaching, recruitment support and also provides financial aid for companies to hire unemployed jobseekers.

The project involves five graduate schools and the courses span topics such as ‘What is biobusiness in general? How does a biotech company work? How do you make deals and get financing? What do the international markets look like?’ Participants also attend workshops in career planning and how to sell themselves and their ideas.

The courses have been very well received. So far 15 PhDs have found a new position or job at a life science company in the region with the help of the project.

A region withmany strengths

The Helsinki Region provides excellent research and co-operation opportunities for scientists and companies as well as facilities and services for start-up companies near to its strong basic research community.

There are nine universities, six polytechnics and several research centres, among them the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM). Four campuses are relevant to life sciences: Meilahti Medical Campus, Viikki Life Science Campus, Kumpula Science Campus and Otaniemi Technology Campus. The umbrella organisation, Biocentrum Helsinki, has around 600 people engaged in research in molecular biology, molecular medicine and biotechnology at the University of Helsinki and Aalto University.

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In the Helsinki Region, strengths are to be found within almost all areas of life science, for example in neurological disease and brain research, cancer research, molecular medicine, diagnostics, stem cells, cell therapy and bioinformatics.

Biotechnology is also one of the region’s rapidly growing business sectors with about 100 companies operating within the life science sector. In addition, numerous subsidiaries of international pharma and diagnostics companies have settled in the area.

‘The level of basic research in the biomedical sector is very high in Finland,’ said Riikka Paasikivi, Programme Director of HealthBIO Cluster at Culminatum Innovation Oy Ltd. ‘We need to combine our forces to help small and medium sized companies to get into international markets. We are also collaborating with inward investment organisations to attract international players into our thriving biotech hub.’

Entrepreneurial spirit

In recognition of its entrepreneurialspirit, the EU’s Committee ofRegions has awarded the HelsinkiMetropolitan Region one of itsthree European EntrepreneurialRegion Awards for 2012. Theother recipients are Catalonia(Spain) and Tvarna (Slovakia). ‘A particular strength of ours,’ said

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Aerial photograph of Foresterhill Campus

NEXXUS HAS become a member of the European Diagnostic Clusters Association (EDCA), a new organisation designed to facilitate co-operation amongst European biotech clusters in promoting medical diagnostics.

The field of medical diagnostics includes a broad range of technologies, and the sector is expected to grow rapidly alongside the trend towards personalised medicine.

The initiative was founded by Euromediag, the diagnostic group of the Eurobiomed cluster (Languedoc Roussillon – Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur in France) and Wal-Dx, the in vitro diagnostic group of BioWin (Wallonia, Belgium). Including Nexxus, several other regional networks have joined the EDCA, including Biocat (Barcelona, Spain), Life Science Cluster Krakow (Poland), OBN (Oxford, UK), Uppsala Bio (Sweden), and ZMDB (Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany), representing a total of 250 in vitro diagnostic companies.

The EDCA, currently in planning stages, will likely be launched by mid-2011. Its objectives are to underpin the competitiveness of European in vitro diagnostic players through networking and innovative partnerships, to expedite access to non-EU markets (particularly North America and Asia) and to harness the growing role of medical diagnostics in healthcare practice. Member organisations hope the EDCA will help foster collaborative R&D projects and sharing of technology platforms.

’Forming this ‘super-syndicate’ amongst European networks will strengthen Scotland’s position, as it can bring together businesses, SMEs, large pharmaceutical companies, and potential funding sources from a much broader spectrum - both geographically and in terms of expertise,’ said Graeme Boyle, Nexxus Director.

Dr Till Bachmann, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Bio-chip Research in the Division of Pathway Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Nexxus’ steering group chair in the East of Scotland, is also heavily involved with the project on behalf of Nexxus. ’I am delighted to be part of this commitment to encourage and enhance the engagement of the Scottish life sciences sector, particularly SMEs, with European activity in diagnostics,’ he said.

At the group’s initial meeting in December 2010, Professor Tea Petrin, former Chairwoman of the European Cluster Policy Group, said, ’The European Commission should enhance cluster collaborations since it can yield many benefits including the strengthening of regional pioneering work that shows the way to good practice in EU technological empowerment.’

For further information, contact Graeme Boyle, Nexxus Director E: g.boyle@nexxusscotland.com or project leaders, Philippe Outrebon and Pierre Vidal of Euromediag E: pierre.vidal@eurobiomed.org or Frédéric Druck of the Wal-Dx/BioWin group E: Frederic.druck@biowin.org.

Nexxus joins EDCA

CulminatumInnovationand HealthBIOIN tHE HELSINKI rEGIoN, HealthBIO is managed by Culminatum Innovation Oy Ltd, which is a development company owned by the Uusimaa Regional Council,the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa, and the universities, polytechnics, research institutes and business community of the Helsinki Region. Managing the Centre of Expertise Programme (OSKE) within the Helsinki Metropolitan Region is the main function of Culminatum.

The national HealthBIO cluster covers the five major Finnish regional bioclusters within the Centre of Expertise Programme 2007 – 2013. The participating regions are Helsinki Region, Kuopio, Oulu, Tampere and Turku. By co-ordinated co-operation and networking of regional and other national activities, and with a multidisciplinary approach to top level expertise and competencies, the cluster aims to build on the international competitiveness of Finnish biotechnology.

Riikka, ‘is the existence of goodmutual partnerships between thecompanies, the universities andthe public sector here. I’m surethat greatly contributed to ourreceiving this award.’

For further information contactRiikka PaasikiviT: +358 50 521 5944E: riikka.paasikivi@culminatum.fiW: www.culminatum.fiW: www.biobusiness.fiW: www.healthbio.fiW: www.finbio.netW: www.research.fi

Riikka Paasikivi

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Scottish cardiothoracic centre one of largest in EuropetHE GoLdEN JUBILEE NAtIoNAL HoSPItAL in Clydebank provides advanced cardiac care to a population of 2.5 million people in the West of Scotland. The hospital hosts the West of Scotland Heart and Lung Centre which provides regional services in interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, device implantation and cardiothoracic surgery. The hospital also hosts the Scottish National Services for advanced heart failure, congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension. Considering all of these services together, the Golden Jubilee National Hospital is one of the largest cardiothoracic centres in Europe.

The hospital also has other key attributes over and above clinical care. The Beardmore Centre for Health Sciences is a new state-of-the art research and skills centre which will open in Spring 2011. The Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre has 14 meeting rooms, including a 170 seat auditorium. The auditorium has video links to the cardiac catheterisation laboratories for ‘live case’ transmissions, and several national meetings have already made use of this facility.

The Jubilee hospital also provides clinical care in other areas, notably in orthopaedics and ophthalmology.

Cardiology

The Cardiology Department, led by Dr Keith Oldroyd, supports the West of Scotland Optimal

Reperfusion Service which is a new NHS service for heart attack patients. In fact, over 3000 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients are managed invasively in the Golden Jubilee National Hospital each year. Seven hundred of these patients have emergency ‘primary’ or ‘rescue’ PCI in heart attack patients who are transferred from across the West of Scotland by the Scottish Ambulance Service. The hospital is proud of the fact that its ‘door-to-first-balloon’ time (2009/2010), which is a measure of the standard of care, is the shortest in the United Kingdom. The hospital also provides a regional service for advanced imaging in cardiac CT and MRI.

Cardiothoracic surgery

The Cardiothoracic Surgical service is one of the busiest in the United Kingdom. Over 1,500 coronary artery bypass operations and valve replacements are performed each year.

National Services

Advanced Heart Failure - the hospital hosts the Scottish national service for heart failure including heart transplantation, mechanical ventricular assist devices and the acute and longer term management of patients with heart failure.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease - the National service for adult congenital heart disease, led by Dr Hamish Walker, includes a team of doctors and nurses who provide in-patient and out-patient care for patients referred from

across Scotland. The service has specialists in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and transcatheter device implantation. In the not too distant future, it is planned to provide transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation.

Pulmonary Vascular Disease - the hospital also hosts the national service for pulmonary vascular disease. Professor Andrew Peacock and his team are international experts in this field and have led clinical trials of new drug therapies for this condition.

research

Research is a key priority in the hospital. The research that is undertaken includes commercial studies and trials and investigator-initiated single and multi centre clinical trials.

Investigators in the hospital are supported by the Chief Scientist Office, the Scottish Funding Council, Medical Research Scotland, the Wellcome Trust

and the British Heart Foundation. They have published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation and other internationally-leading journals.

The hospital’s research strategy focuses on developmental clinical studies for new therapies and devices which have the potential to improve patient health and wellbeing. Dr Colin Berry is academic lead in Cardiology and research governance is delivered through a Research Management Office (Dr Catherine Sinclair) and the Board’s R&D Group.

Beardmore Centre for Health Science

The latest development of the Board will see The Beardmore Centre for Health Science open in 2011, providing an exceptional focal point for training and research activity with:

• consulting rooms specifically designed for patients who choose to participate in research studies; and

Colin Berry in theatre

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• provide a dedicated facility for clinical skills training involving the use of a patient simulator;

• enhance surgical skills training through the provision of a purpose-built area with the ability to live stream surgical procedures from the hospital; and

• add four additional conference training rooms to the facilities already available within The Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre.

Integration with other key stakeholders

The Golden Jubilee National Hospital has strong links with Universities in the West of Scotland, notably the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences in the University of Glasgow.

In order to facilitate and deliver research the hospital now hosts the NHS West Cardiovascular and Metabolic Specialty Group whose members include NHS clinicians, academics, statisticians, and managers from IT and R&D from across the West of Scotland. It is also represented on Glasgow Biomedicine which links Universities and the NHS in the West of Scotland.

The Golden Jubilee National Hospital is keen to develop industrial partnerships with life sciences and medical device companies. Contact Dr Colin Berry in the first instance T: 0141 951 5180E: margaret.byrne@gjnh.scot.nhs.uk (PA)W: www.nhsgoldenjubilee.co.uk W: www.thebeardmore.com/about-us/health-science

• training rooms equipped with state of the art conference technology and fibre optic audio visual links from the cardiac catheterisation laboratories (cath labs) and theatres, providing the opportunity for enhanced surgical skills training.

The Beardmore Centre for Health Science will complement the existing services provided on site by providing a unique combination of state-of-the-art healthcare professional training facilities, a hospital and a hotel resulting in an ideal venue for showcasing equipment associated with all aspects of patient care.

The Centre will also:

• enhance the experience of patients participating in clinical trials;

• increase the number of trials hosted by the Golden Jubilee National Hospital;

• provide excellent co-located hotel accommodation for patients taking part in research projects;

• enhance the clinical skills training experience for all healthcare professionals through the provision of two single bedroom ward simulation areas;

New state of the art campus opens

SCotLANd’S NEWESt HUB for health, science and sports education opened its doors to 5,070 students and staff in January.

The new £60M state of the art Edinburgh Napier University building in Sighthill in the west of Edinburgh, serves students from the Faculty of Health, Life and Social Sciences. The Faculty comprises the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences and the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care - which are being brought together in one location for the first time.

The 24,345m2 building is the equivalent in size to three and a half football pitches. At its core is the eight storey block which was retained from the old university buildings, while a further 13,833m2 was developed and integrated around it.

The new campus offers students and staff top-class facilities including 25 specialist teaching rooms and 9 clinical skills laboratories - including life-like hospital wards including High Dependency Unit (HDU) simulator suites which mimic intensive care treatment

areas for training nurses; a sports facility which includes a biomechanics laboratory and an environmental chamber that can recreate high altitude conditions with controllable temperature and humidity levels.

The new campus has already been awarded a BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) ‘excellent’ rating. Low carbon emissions and effective overall energy performance play a key part of the design. During construction, 8,000m3 of demolition material was recycled and incorporated into the new building.

Dame Professor Joan Stringer, Principal and Vice Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University said, ‘I am exceptionally proud of this new landmark building for the city. I believe that we have created a truly special centre for the teaching of health, science and sports of which both our students and Scotland can be proud. The architectural wow factor and innovative facilities combine to make it a first class environment in which to learn.’

Edinburgh Napier Sports Science student and Scottish Rugby Sevens squad member Dougie Fife is put through his

paces at Sighthill’s sports research lab

Golden Jubilee National Hospital

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LEDs in life sciencesLIGHt EMIttING dIodES (LEds) have moved beyond the realm of car dashboard displays and high-tech televisions; these tiny lights are beginning to make a big impact in life science applications.

From cancer therapy to neuroscience research, Scottish life scientists are building companies based on LEDs, a form of lighting that relies on semiconductor materials to produce long-lasting light with low energy consumption. Their small size, hardiness and low heat production also make LEDs the component-of-choice for inventors looking to incorporate a light-producing element in their life science devices.

The emergence of LEDs in life science devices is part of a wider trend towards cross-disciplinary collaboration that draws on deep expertise in disparate specialties. Electronics, photonics and optics researchers have years of experience developing LEDs in high-tech industry sectors, for specialist devices as well as general lighting, and this knowledge is now benefiting those with life-science applications in mind.

Ambicare Health

Patients with non melanoma skin cancers can spend less time in hospital, thanks to an LED device made by St Andrews based Ambicare Health. The company, previously known as Lumicure, was founded in 2004 by Professor James Ferguson, consultant dermatologist and head of the University of Dundee’s Department of Dermatology and Professor Ifor

Samuel, leader of the Organic Semiconductor Centre at the University of St Andrews.

The device they developed allows patients to receive Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) at home, at their convenience. PDT involves the application of a pharmaceutical to the skin, its absorption, and then controlled exposure of the area to light, inducing a reaction that activates the drug to destroy cancer cells.

‘It’s the same total dose of light that the large static lamps in hospital would produce but over a longer period of time,’ said Ambicare Health CEO Dr Ian Muirhead.

The original Ambulight PDT device James and Ifor developed used Organic LEDs (OLEDs), which can be placed on a thin substrate. This allows the entire device to be small, portable, and lightweight with a disposable dressing. Ambicare’s production devices use LEDs and diffusers and the red wavelength of light emitted by these LEDs matches that specified by existing medical protocols. This ensures the pharmaceutical is being activated and the desired

depth of penetration into the skin is attained.

‘It’s a unique product,’ said Ian. ‘We’re the first ambulatory light source for PDT skin cancer treatment on the market.’

Ambicare is rolling out Ambulight PDT at a series of European centres and taking the product to Australia, with hopes to expand into the US soon as well.

The company also recently completed the initial clinical trials

of a similar device that uses a blue wavelength of light to treat acne and expects to bring this product to market later this year.

‘We still have a bank of IP in this area and our key focus is to take what we believe is a potential technology platform and apply it to other applications such as wound healing or cosmetic uses,’ said Ian.

mLEd

The Glasgow-based company mLED is based on an ethos ofcollaboration. The company’s future lies in making the most of collaborative efforts in several different disciplines.

mLED’s technology originated at the Institute of Photonics (IoP) at the University of Strathclyde, a commercially oriented research unit that works to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial applications in photonics. In 2009, the now-CEO of mLED, Dr Jim Bonar, received funding to assess the commercial

An array of microLEDs with pixel diameter of 72 um operating at 370 nm

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potential of some of the research going on at the Institute in a six-month ‘CEO-designate’ role.

‘I got to look at the IoP’s microLED technology, which I knew was internationally renowned, to establish if there was a good market opportunity there,’ he said.

There was, and mLED spun out in July 2010. Micro LED arrays rely on the same semiconductor technology as other LEDs, but their uniqueness lies in their high power density and the precise control users have over programming the dense patterns of light displayed, both spatially and temporally.

The experts at mLED use this technology platform to reach out to several sectors including printing, communications and life sciences.

‘There’s a gap in the market for our novel technology,’ said Jim. ‘We can get feedback and work with our customers to establish mutual capabilities. Our way of operating is that we’re keen to establish collaboration, reach out to people who will be able to take our capabilities to enhance their offering.’

mLED has sold demonstrator devices of their platform technology to the US, China, South Korea, Israel and Germany, to blue chip companies and to SMEs. Closer to home, mLED is considering life science applications identified by the IoP and partners such as the University of Edinburgh.

One application is ‘on chip’ micro-fluorimetry, in which the microLED array technology, coupled with other devices, can shine a specific wavelength of light to stimulate fluorescence in

extremely small liquid samples. The decay of this fluorescence intensity over time can also be measured with great sensitivity.

In another project, mLED is collaborating with the IoP and Stanford University in the US. They work in optogenetics, a field that combines genetic engineering and optics to trigger activity or inactivity of neurons, to study the central nervous system in action. Using mLED’s technology can help control the firing of action potentials in nerves and the biological processes being studied with extremely high precision.

Older methods of using light as this sort of trigger can unintentionally affect more cells than intended, but with mLED’s technology it becomes feasible to target specific cells with less ‘background noise’ or cross-talk amongst the cells.

‘This field is really catching fire,’ said Jim. ‘At first there were just four or five researchers looking into this, and now there are hundreds or thousands. We are in a position where we can deliver the tools and products to help researchers’ ambitions in this area.

‘We recognise that only by having open relationships in certain applications will we be able to progress. We’re very much about partnering. That’s why the scientific research market is of so much interest to us, to use our skill set to help meet those demands.’

Illuminated retractor

Another example of a Scottish LED based technology began with a specialist registrar in general and vascular surgery, Murali Subramaniam, who was

partners to help take the device to market. Market research commissioned by SHIL estimates that two thirds of hospital procedures would benefit from use of the Illuminated Retractor making the total global market for the device more than £1billion.

All of these technologies rely on expertise from physics, optics, life sciences and medicine for their inspiration, execution and development. Much of the photonics research that pre-dated these life science applications has made LEDs energy efficient, long-lasting, dynamic, and inexpensive. With this technology development opening up greater possibilities for LEDs, it has become feasible to bring these little lights into a whole new sector, incorporating them into medical and scientific devices.

For further information contact:

Ian MuirheadAmbicare Health Ltd E: info@ambicarehealth.comW: www.ambicarehealth.com

Jim Bonar, mLED T: 0141 548 4233E: jim.bonar@mled-ltd.comW: www.mled-ltd.com

Jim McGuire, SHIL T: 0141 248 7334 E: jim.mcguire@shil.co.ukW: www.shil.co.uk

working in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Murali found operating room light sources did not adequately illuminate surgical cavities. Surgeons’ shadows could block light from overhead lamps and head-mounted lights or fibre-optic cables reduced mobility around the operating room. Murali felt there had to be a better way to bring light into deep incisions, and Scottish Health Innovations Ltd (SHIL) came on board to help develop the concept.

‘We felt there was fantastic potential in this area,’ said Jim McGuire, the SHIL project leader. ‘It is a wholly Scottish collaboration between SHIL, NHS Scotland, Design LED Products Ltd, Fearsomengine Ltd, and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.’

The Illuminated Retractor combines a conventional self-retaining retractor with built-in LEDs, accomplishing two jobs at once - holding open the incision and directly illuminating the cavity.

Prototypes of the disposable retractor have been developed and SHIL is seeking, and is in discussion with, commercial

Illuminated Retractor

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Investing in life sciences and talentGrAMPIAN BIoPArtNErS Ltd (GBP), based in Aberdeen, was formed in 2008 by three colleagues who were the scientific founders of Haptogen, a spinout from the University of Aberdeen. Haptogen was a drug discovery company developing protein-based treatments for life threatening diseases including bacterial infections and liver disease/fibrosis. Haptogen also launched a new antibody platform technology that pioneered the isolation and use of shark antibodies for the treatment of disease. Professor Andy Porter, and Drs Gillian Broadbent and Keith Charlton became the core team of GBP following Haptogen’s acquisition by Wyeth.

GBP is establishing itself as an active, yet informal investment syndicate for angel investors wishing to back young life science companies. Typical investments range from £10K to around £250K. Becoming co-investment partners with Scottish Enterprise in 2010 has enabled GBP’s investees to access additional funds for investment.

All three principals were, and still consider themselves to be, active scientists, and it is their deep understanding of science, and of the benefits of its development

and application that guides their investment decisions. GBP is unusual in that it only invests in life sciences, and then, only in segments of the market the principals are totally familiar with - immunodiagnostics and devices, immunotechnology, biologic drug discovery. GBP has particular expertise in the areas of antibody diagnostics and biologic therapeutics. More recently it has also made early stage assessments and investments in regenerative medicine and vaccine/drug delivery companies.

NovaBiotics

The experience with NovaBiotics demonstrates GBP’s willingness to undertake due diligence on behalf of other potential investors, and to take the lead in supporting funding rounds.

Early in 2008, GBP made its first investment in Aberdeen based NovaBiotics, which designs and develops novel peptide-based anti-infectives. Drug development is a hugely expensive process, and GBP has invested in the company five times. Progress has been rapid - NovaBiotics’ lead compound the biologic, Novexatin, a brush-on treatment for nail fungus, has successfully completed Phase IIa clinical trails. And further exciting products are in the pipeline.

Asked about the benefits of GBP’s involvement with NovaBiotics, its Chief Executive, Deborah O’Neil commented, ‘GBP has invested serially in NovaBiotics over the course of what has been a critical

period in the company’s lifecycle. GBP’s ability to understand the science and the company’s novel technology platform from an early stage, and to grasp the therapeutic and commercial potential of the product candidates NovaBiotics has developed, has been key to attracting syndicated co-investment from other funds including Tri Capital, Aurora, Discovery Investment Fund and Scottish Enterprise. The funding rounds in which GBP has participated and, latterly, led have helped transform NovaBiotics from a preclinical company with exciting technology and potential products to a leading biotechnology entity with clinically validated anti-infective drug candidates.’

Pharmacells/oristem

Pharmacells is a young biotechnology company. It is based in Glasgow and has exclusive rights to a novel adult stem cell technique. It has the ability to identify, isolate, process and store recently discovered pluripotent cells directly from a blood sample. Its patented

technique allows easy, quick and cost-effective access using a minimally invasive technique. Through its subsidiary, Oristem, the company now offers stem cell collection and banking to individuals.

Athol Haas, Pharmacells’ CEO sees real value in GBP’s hands-on approach - ‘Grampian BioPartners has become a key part of our business model. It has contributed not only financially but also with expert advice, contacts and general life sciences business savvy. It was very important for us to not only raise the finance we need to achieve our goals but to attempt to include useful partners that can improve our business where possible. Our partnership with GBP continues to prove that this decision was the right one for us.’

ImmunoSolv

ImmunoSolv, based in Edinburgh with laboratories in Aberdeen too, is another company in GBP’s portfolio. Its in-depth knowledge of apoptosis enabled the company to develop Dead-Cert® technology to improve the quality of cell populations in vitro through a novel platform enabling the detection and removal of non-

Deborah O’Neil, NovaBiotics

AndyPorter

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viable cells. Already generating revenues, the company has big plans to develop more tools and techniques, and to further promote its expertise in antibody isolation and engineering. Dr Ruth Murray CEO of ImmunoSolv adds, ‘…support through the investment funding from Grampian BioPartners and the Scottish Co-Investment Fund is a key part of ImmunoSolv’s strategy to strengthen our presence in key markets and to deliver sustainable growth.’

Cytosystems

In the area of diagnostics, GBP has invested in Cytosystems

an innovative Aberdeen company that has developed a clinically proven non-invasive early and predictive test for bladder cancer diagnosis and monitoring. A similar approach looks very likely to be applicable to diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer too.

During the past year, new investors have joined the syndicate, and James Shaw, GBP’s Company Secretary, has established his own practice in London and Edinburgh, extending GBP’s geographic reach, and its access to further investment

funds. Enquiries from both potential investors, and from companies looking for investment are routed through the ‘contact’ page on its website. Several investments are under discussion, and GBP will be investing further funds over the coming months.

The final words are, perhaps, best left to Athol Haas who succinctly summarises the strength of GBP’s proposition, ‘One of GBP’s key contributors, Professor Andy Porter, has become a non-executive director of Pharmacells. Andy works continually to add to our proposition and product range

with his vast knowledge of life sciences business success. His particular dual skill set as both a highly regarded scientist and a successful business owner, is a very useful combination and serves to make Pharmacells into a stronger business all round.’

For further information about Grampian BioPartners and the companies featured seeW: www.grampianbiopartners.comW: www.cytosystems.com W: www.immunosolv.comW: www.novabiotics.co.ukW: www.oristem.comW: www.pharmacells.co.uk

Neuroscientists gather GLASGoW NEUroSCIENCE - an academic and clinical community which aims to stimulate and improve neuroscience across Glasgow - reconvened in January for the second Glasgow Neuroscience Day. Over a hundred neuroscientists from universities and hospitals gathered at Glasgow Caledonian University for a day of talks and posters with sponsors including Blackwell Exhibitions, Nexxus, PerkinElmer, PsyRING, and Stratech Scientific Ltd.

The neuroscience of vision was a prominent theme of the day. Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist Professor Gordon Dutton’s opening talk gave fascinating examples of people’s responses to compromised vision and Dr Carrie Ballantyne described compromised visuo-spatial development in children with autism and fragile X syndrome. Other talks and posters on vision

covered optic nerve hypoplasia, visual perception, amblyopia and stereopsis.

Among the neurodisabilities explored, either in the laboratory or in patients, were stroke, schizophrenia and Rett’s syndrome.

Basic research was also well represented with presentations on free radicals, P2Y receptors, auditory cortex organisation, neurotransmission and interneurons.

Universally acknowledged as the highlight of the day however was Keynote Speaker Professor David Nutt, a global expert on neuroscience who has devoted his career to the development of responses to the heath problems associated with addiction, anxiety and other psychiatric diseases. His lecture ‘Science and nonscience in drug policy’ was entertaining and informative and took attendees on a journey through drug

research as it is understood and disseminated by policy makers and the media.

As before on Glasgow Neuroscience Day, the speakers were at all stages of their academic careers, from PhD students to senior professors. The more junior speakers rose to the challenge admirably, producing talks of excellent quality and clarity. The poster presentations demonstrated further the great diversity and quality of neuroscience research being carried out in Glasgow. Topics ranged from basic research to

clinic induced neuroprotection, neurotoxicity, spinal cord injury, pain inflammation, vision, neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration.

During the wine reception at the end of the day, Graeme Boyle, Nexxus Director, awarded prizes to PhD students Emma Reid and Kamal Gadalla – both from the University of Glasgow – in respect of best oral presentation and best poster prize respectively.

The organising committee received extremely favourable feedback from attendees, and are already using their suggestions in planning Glasgow Neuroscience Day 2012. To keep abreast of this and to hear about other forthcoming neuroscience-related events, seminars and jobs, contact Tomoko Iwata (E:Tomoko.Iwata@glasgow.ac.uk) to request the monthly e-newsletter produced by the group.

Graeme Boyle presents Emma Reid with her prize

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Best foot forwardA JoINt rESEArCH and innovation initiative led by Glasgow Caledonian University, A-FOOTPRINT, aims to develop novel ankle/foot and foot orthoses for common disabling conditions which are cost effective, high-speed to market, and personalised for form and function.

Up to 196 million Europeans suffer disabling foot and ankle pain and the prevalence is set to rise in an ageing society with increasing chronic long term conditions. Ankle and foot orthoses are used to treat many of these conditions, costing approximately €312M per annum across European health services. However, approximately 70% of these medical devices are made using traditional techniques relying on impression casts, templates and hand fabrication. Personalised devices provide more effective outcome in terms of symptom reduction, fit, comfort and aesthetics but are more costly and time consuming to manufacture. Patient supply typically takes 28 days, the

functional form of orthoses is difficult to verify, and repeat prescriptions can be inaccurate. Hand manufacturing using thermoplastics limits design choice and limits personalised function to simple parameters such as cushioning and range of motion. Innovation in the sector is limited and market competitiveness is weak. For both private and nationalised healthcare sectors, reimbursement for orthotic treatment varies from country to country making potentially available markets in Europe difficult to access.

To address these problems the A-FOOTPRINT project was funded by the European Commission in the Seventh Framework Cooperation Work Programme, under theme 4 for Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies1 at a total cost of €5.3M. This 48 month joint research and innovation initiative is led by Professor Jim Woodburn, Professor of Rehabilitation, Institute for Applied Health Research, Glasgow Caledonian University. The consortium groups and coordinates research, analysis and pilot testing in five universities, six SMEs and one industrial partner across seven European countries.

‘The A-FOOTPRINT approach will automate processes to speed up the manufacture, delivery and supply of personalised devices exploiting digital scanning, computer-aided design and rapid manufacturing,’ explains Jim. ‘Novel devices will be developed which are cost-effective, yet personalised to provide better

fit and comfort and functional performance. Rapid provision of better orthotic devices with excellent supporting technologies and services should result in quicker recovery times, reduced symptoms and improved functional ability thus increasing the quality of life for European citizens with disabling foot and ankle conditions. Working closely with multiple stakeholders, the project will also develop flexible business models sensitive to different healthcare models across Europe. The project specifically targets benefits to SMEs in the orthotic sector.’

A-FOOTPRINT is organised as nine integrated work packages. Fontys University from the Netherlands will work with Orthotic SME partners (Firefly Orthoses, Ireland; Junquera y Diz, Spain; Baltic Orthoservice, Lithuania; and Peacocks Medical Group, UK) to develop new intelligent patient information systems to enable improved diagnostics and prescribing protocols for personalised orthoses.

Materialise NV from Belgium will lead the development of computer-aided design software exploiting their expertise from the dental sector. The clinical-academic centres at Glasgow Caledonian University, the Mobilab at KHK University in Belgium and the University Hospital Maastricht in the Netherlands are working alongside SME partners AnyBody Technology from Denmark and RSscan International from Belgium to develop musculoskeletal, multi-body and finite element analysis simulations to understand foot and ankle function in health and in impaired states across a range of common, disabling foot and ankle disorders. These simulation techniques will also be used to develop numerical optimisation algorithms in order to optimise orthotic designs based on patient-specific criteria. To build these models the clinical centres will provide the biomechanical modelling scientists with personalised data sets comprising computed tomographic and magnetic

Figure 1. subject-specific foot model used to design and optimise a personalised foot orthotic device

The consortium meet to discuss progress at the offices of Orthobaltic services, an SME project partner based in Kaunus, Lithuania

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resonance images of the foot and ankle along with detailed three-dimensional kinematic (movement) and kinetic (force) data and muscle function information from electromyography (see Figure 1 on previous page).

Solid freeform fabrication techniques such as selective laser sintering will be benchmarked for orthotic manufacture by researchers at the University of Newcastle, UK. Exploiting the capabilities of layer or additive manufacturing will enable orthotics to be developed with new functional properties and capabilities such as variable wall stiffness and embedded sensing. Prototype devices will undergo pre-clinical evaluation using standard ISO mechanical testing and first-onto-man clinical trials across clinical centres in Europe.

Jim concludes, ‘Research and technology developments within A-FOOTPRINT will be combined in a fully integrated system with the production of prototype devices demonstrated within an SME pilot factory. Market surveys are currently being performed to develop new SME business models

CLYdEBANK BASEd Tissue Solutions and Nottingham based CompanDX have joined forces in a co-promotion and service agreement to provide clients in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors with an unparalleled opportunity to link the supply of human tissues and biofluids to subsequent biomarker and target identification studies.

The two organisations met at the Genesis Conference in London in December 2010, where Tissue Solutions was a guest of Nexxus, and immediately realised there was potential to work together to mutual advantage. Tissue Solutions provides ethically acquired and fully consented quality human tissue for research for the development of ex vivo assays, toxicity testing and target/biomarker discovery and validation, whilst CompanDX provides leading edge bioinformatics support in the delivery of composite biomarker panels, drug targets and information on compensatory pathways.

Morag McFarlane, CSO of Tissue Solutions said, ‘This partnership provides a real opportunity to offer the industry a package that hasn’t been available before. To be able to conduct ex vivo experiments using relevant clinical samples and then have the tools ready to distil out highly sensitive and

specific biomarker panels is unparalleled.’ Other tools in CompanDX’s “Distiller” portfolio allow for unique pathways interactions maps to be produced showing the changes in gene interactions following differing treatments. Pre-clinical studies examining the effects of drug treatments on tissues or cells provided by Tissue Solutions can now be interrogated to reveal changes in expressed gene interactions, paving the way for co-therapy or therapy planning decisions.

And CompanDX now has a route to allow clients to translate in silico studies to human ex vivo data using the capabilities of Tissue Solutions to source a wide variety of annotated clinical samples from tissues and bloods, hair follicles, urine and saliva. With increasing pressure on the Industry to reduce the cost and failure rate of clinical trials, methods that allow companies to predict response, identify toxicity issues and drug interactions are very much the order of the day.

Dr Andy Sutton, CEO of CompanDx said, ‘The alliance between Tissue Solutions and CompanDX offers an exceptional opportunity for the industry to tap into resources and tools that provide a human centric approach and that could address the needs of an embattled sector.’

covering central and distributed manufacturing models.

‘Co-ordinating the A-FOOTPRINT study presents Glasgow Caledonian University with a fantastic opportunity to grow and develop capacity and capability in leading and managing large-scale, multinational and interdisciplinary projects with an industrial focus to SMEs. The complexity of the study is challenging but highly rewarding as we take ideas from the lab and convert them into treatment products which will directly benefit our patients.’

The A-FOOTPRINT project is due to be completed in the autumn of 2013.

For further information contact Jim Woodburn, Glasgow Caledonian University T: 0141 331 8483E: jim.woodburn@gcu.ac.uk W: www.afootprint.eu

1Grant agreement NMP2-SE-2009-228893

A subject undergoes detailed gait analysis

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My Job

Hayden Selvadurai, PhD Student, Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh and former Editor-In-Chief of EUSci magazine

Q: So what is it you do?

For my PhD project, supervised by Dr John Mason in the Centre for Integrative Physiology, I’m investigating the role a particular gene pathway plays in brain development and how its deregulation contributes to tumour formation.

The brain is an enormously complex structure and forms under the direction of an even more complex interplay of genes being switched on and off in the right place at the right time. When this goes awry, defects in development can arise or tumours can form as a result of excessive growth. I’m trying to uncover the role one set of genes plays in this process in a particular part of the brain.

Outside of the lab, I’ve had a fair bit of involvement with EUSci

magazine, a semesterly popular science magazine published by staff and students at the University of Edinburgh (www.eusci.org). After a bit of writing and editing, I took over as Editor-in-Chief for a couple of issues, a role that, in addition to writing and editing content, tested my organisation and management skills to the extreme!

Q: tell us about a typical day(or is there no such thing?).

One of my favourite things about the academic environment is that there is no such thing as a typical day. Certain days I have a heavy load of hands-on lab work, while other days are spent behind a microscope or computer analysing data.

At the moment I’m also writing up my findings for publication. Various teaching activities also keep me busy. I’m supervising an honours student, which involves a mix of bench instruction and discussing the project in fine detail. I also tutor

a few classes and have even been subjected to marking undergraduate assignments.

EUSci activities then take up whatever time I have left in the day. While editing, we would be constantly working towards deadlines (content, artwork, copyediting, printing, etc), each with their own set of challenges. Certain days would involve chasing down writers, others were spent handling the logistics of getting 32 pages of content edited by different people, and then finally trying to track down enough funding to publish.

Q: So what’s taken up mostof your time recently?

After handing over the editorial reins for EUSci I spend less time on the logistics of putting each issue together, though am still involved, primarily in securing funding. So far we’ve been meeting the printing costs for each issue through a mix of grant funding and advertising sales, though now we are trying to work out a sustainable way of financing the magazine. To this end we’ve initiated discussions with various members of the University and Edinburgh Beltane, who are providing useful guidance.

Q: What’s on the cards for the next few months?

Obviously finishing my PhD project in a timely fashion is my main concern at the moment. I’ve had a bit of bad luck with one of my experimental models so have had to plan out a new set of experiments, which I’m

working hard to finish over the next few months.

The other big thing coming up for me is the hunt to secure a good postdoc. I’m keen to continue research into the field of developmental genetics and cancer and have been looking for labs that have the right fit with my research interests. I’ve started talking to people at conferences and meetings and will be putting significant effort into promoting myself and my research in the hope of having a position secured by the time I finish my PhD.

Q: What would you want to do if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

I’ve always enjoyed science writing and communication and had considered trying to get into science publishing when I finished University. However, I realised towards the end of my MSc back home in New Zealand that I should stick to research while I had the drive to do it. As luck would have it I got a scholarship to do my PhD at Edinburgh University and fortunately have had ample opportunity to maintain my interests in both science writing and research at the same time.

For further information, contact Hayden T: 0131 651 1707E: h.j.selvadurai@sms.ed.ac.uk.

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trANSLAtIoNAL rESEArCH has been much talked about in recent years, but what exactly is it and how important is it set to become? Dr John Waller and Dr Lorcan Sherry, both formerly senior research pharmacologists at MSD (Merck & Co.), and now Directors of newly formed OracleBio give us their thoughts.

‘In essence, translational research involves carrying out a scientific study with the focus on how the data generated can be applied to the population under study,’ said John. ‘In the field of biological research and drug development, translational research strives to better connect laboratory based drug discovery with new therapies being developed in the clinic and demands a multi-directional dialogue between the drug discovery scientists and clinicians.’

The drive for translational research within the drug discovery industry has come about due to the vast amounts of investment in research and development that have resulted in a significantly lower return on investment than anticipated.

‘In the search for the answer to this problem, drug discovery institutions have highlighted translational research as the key to future success,’ he continued. ‘Previously, it was not uncommon for pre-clinical scientists to work on a drug discovery programme and hand over the project to a completely different set of clinical scientists with little or no continuity. This scenario often meant however that information gathered in the pre-clinical stage was not

fully applied in the clinical situation and visa versa. Information feedback from the clinic is particularly important with ‘first in class’ molecules (new concept drugs with no precedent in the clinic). Here the data from Phase I studies (typically pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies) can feed back from the clinic and influence studies carried out in a pre-clinical setting. This can generate data that can be very useful for the continued development of the compound in Phase II and III studies. In addition, the data can be used to influence the work carried out on any ‘back-up’ compounds.

‘This change in mindset has prompted a number of pharmaceutical companies to implement ‘proof of concept’ teams comprising of both pre-clinical scientists and clinical exploratory medicine experts that together, can bridge the gap between pre-clinical and clinical studies,’ he concluded.

In action

An example of translational research in action includes clinical studies investigating the actions of drugs on the central nervous system. In the specific case where a new anti-depressant concept drug fails to provide anti-depressant action, the clinical scientists may be left wondering if the mechanism of action is appropriate for treating depression or, alternatively, if the compound failed to reach the specific target areas of the brain in sufficient quantities to have the desired effect.

Clearly, alternative approaches are required to improve the predictability of action and ultimately reduce the huge costs associated with clinic failures. Using translational research approaches, it is possible to carry out pre-clinical and clinical studies using such techniques as PET imaging and receptor occupancy studies to ensure that the compound is engaging with the target molecule in sufficient quantities and extrapolate this to the clinical situation.

Only once this type of information has been confirmed, and the correct molecule selected, would a compound progress to the more costly Phase II studies with the expectation that the success rate should be higher.

role of biomarkers

A critical component of translational research within drug discovery programmes is the implementation of biomarkers.‘A biomarker is something that can be measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacological responses to a therapeutic intervention,’ said John’s co-director Lorcan. ‘Biomarkers can reduce the attrition rate of late stage clinical

candidates by assessing drug potential at the early stages of the pre-clinical research and clinical development. Such biomarkers may focus on evaluating appropriate target expression and compound exposure, engagement, efficacy and safety. However, it is imperative that the chosen biomarker responds similarly in both pre-clinical models and humans, thereby allowing cross-species integration of data and strong translational interpretation of results.

‘In summary,’ he concluded, ‘the future value of translational research will depend on continued efforts to integrate research information and knowledge across industry, hospitals and academic institutions to deliver robust, validated, translational research tools to better characterise both drug and disease responses earlier and with greater confidence.’

OracleBio offers both practical and consultancy translational biomarker services to pharmaceutical companies, SME drug development companies and other organisations within the life science sector. For further information contact John or Lorcan at info@oraclebio.com or see www.oraclebio.com.

Translational research –a vital key

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much more than this and I hope my research demonstrates that the lessons learned in the early years should not be forgotten,’ she said.

Bodysnatchers to Lifesavers: three Centuries of Medicine in Edinburgh by Tara Womersley and Professor Dorothy H. Crawford

There is no doubt that colourful characters from Edinburgh’s medical history have appeal. The authors, both from the University of Edinburgh, detail medical developments in Edinburgh from the time the University’s medical school opened its doors in 1726. Tales include Lister’s discovery of

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In a bookshop near youSEVErAL of our local scientist-authors have had recent releases which are in the bookshops now - here’s a rundown of just some of them to whet your appetite.

from Another Kingdom: the amazing world of fungi edited by Lynne Boddy and Max Coleman

‘Fungi can kill and cure us, they can also poison and feed us,’ states the introduction of this new book from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Mycologists - scientists who study fungi - suspect that 1.5 million species of fungi exist, though only 100,000 have been identified. This book, for the general reader, introduces fungi, their role in maintaining life as we know it, uses of fungi in everyday life, and examines our complex cultural attitudes to them.

‘What makes this book so special is that it brings together some of the world’s most authoritative scientists to create a beautifully illustrated, enthralling and highly readable account of the world of fungi,’ writes Stephen Blackmore FRSE, Regius Keeper, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, in the book’s foreword.

Stem Cells: Scientific facts and fiction by Christine Mummery, Ian Wilmut, Anja Van de Stolpe and Bernard Roelen

Stem cell science is moving forward so rapidly that it can often be difficult to keep up with new developments, their implications, and separate the facts from the fiction.

This book, providing clear and impartial information, was written by four researchers led by a distinguished developmental biologist, Professor Christine Mummery of the University of Leiden and including ProfessorSir Ian Wilmut of the Universityof Edinburgh.

According to publisher Elsevier, this book ‘provides readers with the information they require to form their own opinions on the use of stem cells on the basisof facts rather than hype.’

opportunities not Prescriptions: the development of occupational therapyin Scotland 1900 – 1960by Dr Catherine Paterson

A University of Aberdeen academic explores the historyof occupational therapy and the growth of its practice over the years in Scotland in this book.Dr Patterson believes that an appreciation of the history of occupational therapy has an important role to play in helping newcomers to the profession.

‘There is a view of the profession simply as getting people out of hospital as quickly as possible. For me, occupational therapy involves

antiseptic, Simpson’s discovery of chloroform and the intriguing story of ‘James Barry’, who qualified in Edinburgh in 1812 and had a successful career as an army doctor but was, after death, discovered to be a woman. The book also covers more recent developments such as a revolutionary treatment for tuberculosis, creation of a synthetic vaccine for hepatitis B and the cloning of Dolly the Sheep.

If you have a new (non-textbook) life science book coming out, or a great life-science read by local authors to recommend, get in touch with k.fink@nexxusscotland.com.

Ian Wilmut with Dolly the Sheep

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dr AILEEN LotHIAN designs Science, Engineering and Technology programmes designed to give pupils hands-on experience of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET). Her projects also aim to encourage work related learning within an industrial enterprise.

Many pupils, teachers and SET companies benefit from personal development enhancing their education and management skills and encouraging them to develop their creativity and innovation. Aileen leads the Young SET Ambassadors programmes, focused on encouraging talented young people in Scotland to consider careers in science, engineering and technology. The programme aims to encourage work-related learning within an industrial enterprise. Recent topics have included energy and renewables projects, recycling projects and carbon emissions-reduction programmes at schools and SET companies in the East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian and Edinburgh areas.

School teams of six pupils, aged between 12 and 14 years, across a variety of locations in Scotland take part in Young SET Ambassador programmes. Enrolled Ambassadors from science, engineering and technology companies are linked with the students, providing mentoring guidance to the teams through the project. The projects, which run from August to June each year culminate in a local Young SET Ambassador Awards Day at which each group presents a working model illustrating the project and a top finish here can lead to progression to a UK-wide competition.

Youngsters SET to inspireAileen’s aim is to prepare young, talented students to solve important environmental problems, and through hard work, and research provide a fundamental understanding of the importance of protecting our environment by reducing the amount of carbon emissions released into our atmosphere. The Young SET Ambassadors programmes have been very successful with the winners of the Edinburgh Awards Day final reaching the UK finals in London. The energy and renewables programmes were awarded third-equal in the UK finals in 2010, and the recycling programme Edinburgh winners reached the UK finals, to be held in March 2011 in London. The Young SET Ambassadors are designed to help increase pupils’ education, knowledge about science, engineering and technology and help young people to develop their self-esteem, confidence and ability to communicate with others about their hard work carried out whilst participating on the programmes.

The programmes are supported by mentors, teachers and influential leaders including the First Minister, the Rt Hon Alex Salmond, MSP who accompanied the Young SET Ambassadors to China in June 2010, where he led the presentation in Shanghai at the World Expo to help grow Scottish Businesses in China. Iain Gray MSP also supports the environmental programmes and presents the Young SET Ambassadors Awards to schools, companies and ambassadors at the Edinburgh Final Awards Day.

Future developments are underway in designing,

developing and delivering further programmes, along with the potential for expansion into China and India. Aileen was invited to exhibit at the Eco Expo Exhibition in Hong Kong in November 2010 and was also invited to the C40 conference (C40 refers to a group of 40 cities around the world committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions). There, she met environmental world leaders and discussed the Young SET Ambassadors programmes with interested parties from government, industry and educational establishments. She is planning to expand the programmes and roll them out in other countries.

Young women, in particular, progress rapidly when they take part in the Young SET Ambassadors programmes, notes Aileen. Many young people consider taking careers up in science, engineering and technology after participating and are keen to go on to further education, as visits to universities, and industry, through the SET programme, have proven inspiring.

Aileen is looking forward to working with schools, SET businesses and university

students and researchers throughout Scotland on new educational programmes.

‘We’re planning programmes on topics including biofuels and windpower, which have great local industry and research connections. We’re also making future plans for further educational company visits in 2011,’ said Aileen. She is keen to hear from any individuals working in these fields who would be interested in acting as an Ambassador or hosting an industry visit.

Announcement of the current Young SET Ambassadors programme ‘Reduce Our Carbon

Footprint’ winner will be made in May 2011 at the University of Edinburgh. Young SET Ambassadors was a shortlisted candidate in the Nexxus 2010 Most Promising Young Life Science Company of the Year Award (East).

For further information or to offer your services, contact Aileen LothianT: 0131 472 4824E: aileen@youngsetambassadors.com orE: enquiries@youngsetambassadors.com

St Augustine’s Roman Catholic High School, winners of the £1,000 prize money for the recycling programme 2010

Nexxus News

nexxusscotland.com

MEMBERS OF THESTEERING GROUP

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Nexxus promotes and supports research excellence, innovation and knowledge transfer within the life science community Scotland. Since its launch in 2003, it has been guided by representatives from all aspects of the life science community in Scotland including: universities, further education colleges, NHS Trusts, professional service suppliers and life science industry representatives.

Current members of the West Steering Group are:

Chris Packard (Chair), NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; Fiona Godsman (Vice Chair), Kelados; Alison Bennett, Scottish Enterprise; Kevin Cullen, University of Glasgow; John Bremner, Link Technologies; Alastair Muir, Vistage; John Waller, OracleBio; Graeme Milligan, University of Glasgow; Janet Halliday, Controlled Therapeutics; Kevan Gartland, Glasgow Caledonian University; Catherine Breslin, University of Strathclyde; Louise Rice (HR Consultant); Jim Hay, Scottish Colleges Biotechnology Consortium (acting representative).

Current members of the East Steering Group are:

Till Bachmann (Chair), University of Edinburgh; Jennifer Shipston (Vice Chair), Charles River Laboratories; Fiona Godsman, Kelados; Lee Innes, Moredun Research Institute; Patrick McCarthy, Genecom; Ruth Murray, ImmunoSolv; Alison Bennett, Scottish Enterprise; Aidan Courtney, Roslin Cells; Jane Kennedy, Roslin BioCentre; Christine Phillips, NHS Lothian;Bob Millar, MRC HumanReproductive Sciences Unit; Malcolm Bateman, Edinburgh Science Triangle.

For further information about Scotland’s life science industry or to tell Nexxus about a news story or event which would be of interest to the community, contact Nexxus at:-

10 The Square, University Avenue,Glasgow G12 8QQ T: 0141 330 5381

Roslin BioCentre,Wallace Building,Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9PPT: 0131 200 6411

E: info@nexxusscotland.comW: www.nexxusscotland.com

Since its inception, Nexxus has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Scottish Enterprise Network, Glasgow City Council and the University of Glasgow. Additional funding is now also provided

by East Dunbartonshire Council; the Edinburgh Science Triangle (comprising the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, Moredun Research Institute, Roslin Foundation, NHS Lothian, Scottish Enterprise,

Edinburgh Technopole, Heriot-Watt Research Park, Pentlands Science Park, Roslin BioCentre and the councils of The City of Edinburgh, Midlothian, West Lothian and East Lothian); Glasgow Caledonian University; the

Glasgow:Edinburgh Collaboration; NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; North Lanarkshire Council; Renfrewshire Council; SEEKIT; the University of Strathclyde and the University of the West of Scotland.

Improved prospects

Editor: Jan Clark, Nexxus. Editorial Assistant - Kate Fink, Nexxus.Design: Catchline Communications. Production: Print Services, University of Strathclyde.

Page images: Angel Biotechnology (cover, 5), Tom Finnie Photography (2 – top, 4), Glasgow Caledonian University (3), Golden Jubilee National Hospital (8, 9 - bottom), Edinburgh Napier

University (9 – top), Martin Dawson, IoP (10 – bottom), Grampian BioPartners (12 - left), NovaBiotics (12 – middle), ImmunoSolv (12 – right), Glasgow Neuroscience (13), A-FOOTPRINT

Consortium (14 and 15), Ray and Elma Kearney (18 – left), University of Aberdeen (18 – top), The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh (18 – bottom), Christene Leiper, Onorach (20).

oNorACH CLINICAL has relocated to Prospect House, Dundee Technology Park. The clinical trial support company specialises in supporting its clients to set up and deliver clinical trials covering Phases I to IV. It’s also experienced in clinical trial services for medical devices and cell-based therapeutics.

Managing Director Professor Christene Leiper is pleased with the company’s new premises. ‘There’s no doubt that the campus style environment and the nicely landscaped surroundings make this an attractive place to work,’ she said, ‘but, more importantly, the relocation means that we are now more easily accessible to customers and the higher specification accommodation also means we can offer improved, faster services and turnaround.’

In December 2010 the company signed a partnership agreement with Boston based CliniWorks Inc. to distribute their AccelFind™ patient recruitment application in the UK and Ireland. The web-based application uses real patient data to quickly find candidates eligible for studies, thus reducing the time required for feasibility studies, clinical trials and even protocol development.

‘We are now looking forward to generating valuable joint services for pharma companies, research centres and hospitals,’ said Onorach’s CEO Stephen Leiper, ‘The additional space in our new premises also means we have room to accommodate more staff as we grow to meet demand.’

For more information on Onorach’s services contact Christene LeiperT: 07918 168 127 E: christene.leiper@onorach.com

Prospect House