Dundee life sciences firm Cellexus is preparing to push into new markets following a tie-up with another independent Scottish firm.
Livingston-based electronics manufacturer CB Technology will produce equipment on behalf of Cellexus after assisting on improvements to an electronic controller unit for the company’s CellMaker bioreactor. The upgrades will allow Cellexus to enter the growing markets for stem cell production and “clean meat” – the creation of proteins in a laboratory without the need for rearing and slaughtering animals.
The equipment from Cellexus, which re-located from Cambridge to Dundee in 2015, is used by scientists to produce cells in their laboratories to create new medicines and vaccines. The bioreactor’s primary market to date has been in the field of bacteriophages – types of viruses that infect bacteria and can be used as an alternative to antibiotics in farming.
Gavin Hands, chief executive of Cellexus, said the new partnership aims to increase annual production of CellMaker units from 30 to 100 over the next three years.
READ MORE: Cellexus relocates from England to Scotland
“We prefer to work with local companies whenever possible, and so having CB Technology within an hour’s drive of our laboratory made a huge difference while we were developing the manufacturing process of the CellMaker bioreactor,” Mr Hands said.
The device uses “airlift” technology, which bubbles gases up through single-use bags in the machine to stir the ingredients for creating cells, rather than using mechanical parts that must be cleaned with expensive chemicals. Researchers can therefore swap quickly between experiments, saving time and speeding up their work.
John Cameron, managing director of CB Technology, said working with “cutting-edge” life sciences firms is an “important and growing part” of his company’s business.
“Devices like the CellMaker bioreactor give scientists key tools that they need to solve some of the biggest problems facing humanity, from developing new medicines and vaccines through to producing bacteriophages as alternatives to antibiotics in the food industry,” he added.
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