AP Biotech Spins Off "Lab On a Chip"
The CD microfabrication technology has been under development at Amersham Pharmacia Biotech for the past decade. It could reduce laboratory-scale work to the size of a fingernail, enabling researchers to carry out experiments with a mere 1,000th—or less—of the consumables currently used. The result will be substantial savings in the time and cost of research. Ultimately, the technology could replace many of today's diagnostic methods, bringing a complete analytical laboratory down to the size of a small chip.
"This is one of the most exciting, high tech new ventures in Europe, and I am delighted that Amersham Pharmacia Biotech has made it possible," said Amersham Pharmacia Biotech CEO Ron Long. "The potential for this technology across the whole of the life sciences is very considerable and Gyros, through the support of its investors and Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, will be able to realize this," he added.
The new company will be led by Maris Hartmanis, currently head of R&D for Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, and will be based in Uppsala, Sweden. Amersham Pharmacia Biotech will collaborate with Gyros for early big applications of the technology that are of particular interest to the company's commercial goals. Distribution rights for other product formats may also be secured in due course but only through arms length negotiation.
In addition to the life science markets, which have been the focus of Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, the new Gyros technology has very applications in other large markets such as diagnostics, environmental analysis, agriculture, and food. In these markets the low cost highly flexible CD format will provide competitive advantages over existing methods and is therefore likely to attract the interest of companies operating in these areas.
In addition to Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, the consortium comprises five Swedish investors: Novare Kapital; The National Pension Fund, Sixth Fund Board; Karolinska Investment Fund; Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry; HealthCap—and one Danish investor: BankInvest.
Amersham Pharmacia Biotech provides technologies to discover, develop, and deliver therapies quickly and cost-effectively. Owned 55% by Nycomed Amersham plc and 45% by Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., its products include MegaBACE, the automated high-throughput DNA sequencer; Leadseeker, the homogenous imaging system for high-throughput screening of new potential drugs; AKTA design chromatography systems, which are used for purification of biomolecules; and Streamline, Source and Chromaflow for efficient downstream processing of biomolecules.
Amersham Pharmacia Biotech operates globally, with major research and development and production facilities in Sweden, UK, USA, and Japan.
For more information: Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, SE-751 84, Uppsala, Sweden. Tel: +46-1816-5000. Fax: +46-1816-6458.