Avacta creates new venture with US partner that could help cut drug costs

DRUG analysis group Avacta has joined forces with its United States distributor Pall Corporation to form a new venture which could slash drug developers’ costs.

The York-based company signed up technology giant Pall in February to market its flagship Optim device. Pall is a specialist in purification, filtration and separation.

Yesterday Avacta said the companies will form a new venture which will help North American biopharmacuetical companies reduce risks around drug development by screening molecules for their key properties early on.

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Alastair Smith, chief executive of Avacta, said: “Avacta’s commercial partnership with Pall has, since inception, been intended as a wider and more strategic collaboration than just a distribution deal for our Optim technology.

“This services collaboration is the next step in the development of that partnership which gives Avacta an excellent route to market in the US and a new offering with the combined strength of the two companies’ analytical services.

“Optim itself will be used to deliver some aspects of our unique services and exposure through services provision should help expand awareness of Optim product and consequently to drive unit sales and consumables usage in the future.”

Avacta hopes to tap the $100m (£61m) US biopharmacueticals market with the tie-up.

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The venture will provide an analytical service to help biological drug developers reduce the costs of drug development by offering compound screening, better manufacturing and purification. The services will be delivered through Pall’s network globally, plus Avacta’s York laboratories.

Ken Frank, senior vice president of Pall Corporation, said: “This development in our collaboration with Avacta further strengthens Pall’s position in providing leading, innovative solutions for biomolecular processes. We believe that we will help our customers, with better information provided by these services, to improve their decision making and save valuable time in the critically important job of getting new products to market.”

Shares in Avacta lifted five per cent to 1.06p.

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