08 March 2007 - Article by Nottingham Evening Post

R5 Pharmaceuticals has opened a set of laboratories in Nottingham which are among the most sterile in Europe. They will be used for contract drug development for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The company, based in BioCity Nottingham, puts together medicines in a number of ways such as tablets, capsules or phials for injections. The work is undertaken for some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies as well as small and medium-sized businesses. R5 provides an integrated approach to pharmaceutical development, from formulation and delivery technology through to full-scale manufacture. It comes up with ideas for the development of safe and effective pharmaceutical materials to be used in clinical studies. It is applying its expertise to paediatric products and the new and rapidly evolving area of nutraceuticals - food to which vitamins, minerals or drugs are added to make them healthier. Both are coming under increasing pharmaceutical regulation.
Chief executive Paul Titley said: "Our customers are from the tiniest biotech with two or three people and a molecule. "We are the means of moving the molecule into a medicine. "They won't know how to make it into a medicine. We provide a practical service making the medicine but guide them into the most appropriate means of manufacturing. "A pharmaceutical giant may contract the manufacture of the medicine but not its development or analysis." R5 was made possible because of the nature of the sophisticated equipment left behind when BASF gave the laboratories to Nottingham Trent University to form BioCity, a sought-after incubator for small biotech firms based in Pennyfoot Street. Mr Titley said the equipment would have cost £5m to buy new but was available for use fairly quickly at BioCity. R5 employs 21 staff including 12 who joined the business from Northern Food's chemistry team. Mr Titley said: "R5 Pharmaceuticals brings together some of the most well-respected names in the industry who are set to deliver pharmaceutical development services that is second to none. "The laboratories, manufacturing suite and cleanroom that R5 has built at BioCity will quickly enable it to establish itself as the development contractor of choice." R5's facilities include one of the few clean rooms in Europe, ensuring the highest level of sterile product development. Mr Titley said to build similar facilities would have cost a fortune. "The amount of equipment at BioCity made the difference because it is hugely expensive," he said. "Having the sterile suite as part of the business makes us very different to most of the competition in Europe. There are very few contract sterile suites available." R5 has a team of chemists analysing the products for quality control and shelf life. Mr Titley said the team of chemists from Northern Foods undertake food chemistry analysis supporting development and quality control for a huge range of foods made by their former employers. He said: "Their skills are transferrable to pharmaceuticals, so is much of the equipment. "We are adding to that with new people and new equipment." Most of the samples are from food development kitchens. "We establish samples meet the specifications in terms of food, fat and sugars. All the data on the back of a packet comes from R5," said Mr Titley. While an important part of the business, Mr Titley said the company's future lay in medicines. "One of the reasons the Northern Foods team was keen to come was the opportunity for career development for all the staff - and that is already happening," added Mr Titley.