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Project part-financed by the European Union
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is helping scientists at a University of York spin out company who have developed a new technology which could significantly increase production in the pharmaceutical industry as well as have an impact on the treatment of malaria worldwide.
Bioniqs Ltd resulted from research by Professor Neil Bruce and Dr Adam Walker based around ionic liquids – salts that are molten at room temperature – which can be specifically tailored for biochemical systems.
Among other applications, the research at York has revealed that this new environmentally friendly solvent is the perfect solution for the extraction of artemisinin from the plant Artemisia annua, which grows in China and Vietnam and is the essential ingredient in the treatment of malaria.
Dr Adam said: “We have shown that the extraction results from the plant with our ionic liquids is much simpler than existing methods as well as being far more efficient in terms of the actual yield. This means that production costs would be lower and the drug would be cheaper and more available to everyone.”
On the African continent, malaria kills more people than any infection other than HIV/Aids, costing around £6.8 billion a year in lost GNP. Processing artemisinin using ionic liquids could make a huge difference to the economy of Africa.
Earlier in the year Bioniqs formed a landmark partnership with Merck KGaA in Germany to manufacture and distribute a selected range of their ionic liquids which also have applications as cleaning and decontamination agents for reactors in the pharmaceutical industry.
Now UKTI is helping the company take their new technology overseas with a range of made-to-measure export services.
Bioniqs signed up to Passport to Export – the workshop-based programme which also includes advice and support for new and would-be exporters. The programme also helped fund Bioniqs to their first attendance this month at CPhl Worldwide, the major pharmaceutical and chemical exhibition held annually in Paris.
Professor Bruce said: “The Passport programme helped us launch our ionic liquid systems at the Paris exhibition where people were very interested in this new technology and what it could do. We came back to York with lots of leads from the exhibition that we are now following up. Meanwhile we are working with UK Trade & Investment to explore export services we can tap into to grow our business overseas.”
UKTI’s Alastair Gardner is the region’s sector specialist for companies in the chemical industry.
Mr Gardner added: “Bioniqs demonstrates the high level and the quality of scientific research going on in the region, some of which could have far-reaching effects both in industry and the developing world. They are an exciting new company and their ground-breaking research is attracting a lot of interest. We want to help translate that interest into real business overseas.”
