Drug development company challenges industry

New pharmaceutical company Aurelia Bioscience, has recently been launched by three former AstraZeneca scientists. Eyeing the possibilities available for new clinical research organisations (CROs) as large pharmaceutical corporations divest themselves of their former in-house drug development division, they have created a new opportunity for many displaced scientists. Their new facility is located very near a former Astra Zeneca plant in Loughborough and in fact may employ some of the people who used to work at the now-shuttered plant.

The pharmaceutical industry is currently going through a tectonic restructuring, with many of the largest companies looking to downsize and slim their operations. As in AstraZeneca’s case, research and development is often the first to go, especially if the company already has large amounts of fast-selling drugs in its pipeline. Such is the case for AstraZeneca, which manufactures Nexium, Seroquel and Crestor, among others. Outsourcing, primarily to smaller, specialised companies, seems to be becoming the order of the day.

Some of the services that Aurelia Bioscience plans to offer include screening equipment and technology development, bioassay development; label-free phenotypic assay approaches and high throughput compound screening. Investment monies have already been directed into the operation and the experienced leadership in the fledgling company have already built a bio-screening platform. Drug discovery is already underway and the management team has been augmented with the addition of Dr Tony Flinn, FRSC, who was previously the CEO of Onyx Scientific, Ltd.

Dr Flinn, along with original founders Kevin Hart, Garry Allenby and Kathy Dodgson, provide a broad range of experience and abilities, along with nearly a century’s worth of pharmaceutical experience. Branding themselves as a niche bioscience CRO, specialising in pre-clinical drug discovery, they now offer their expertise and facilities to other smaller companies needing research assistance. With a broad array of cutting-edge equipment, Aurelia Bioscience offers the perfect place for small and mid-sized companies to put their drug discovery dreams into action.

Offering Fee for Service, Drug Discovery Projects and Instrument and Reagent Development, Aurelia Bioscience offers smaller pharmaceutical companies products and services they can purchase only as they need them. Cell culture services, phenotypic screening and biochemical screening are just some of the other services offered.

Having turned “lemons into lemonade,” Aurelia Bioscience’s new facility is also starting to re-energise the area around the old AstraZeneca plant. With the rise in unemployment due to the reduced number of highly skilled jobs after AstraZeneca left, this new facility may very well serve to attract other new businesses to the area. A close working and physical relationship with the Aurelia Bioscience facility would certainly facilitate the development and discovery process for a smaller, niche pharmaceutical company.

Aurelia Bioscience is positioned firmly at the forefront of emerging science and technology and is an excellent example of the way drug development and discovery is likely to be headed.