UPPSALA, Sweden, March 12, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Personal Chemistry today announced an agreement with CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, based in Australia, to acquire a license to CSIRO's scale-up technology for the production of compounds developed from Personal Chemistry's Coherent Synthesis(TM) platform. The deal also includes a research agreement in which Personal Chemistry and CSIRO will jointly develop the scale-up technology further.
Coherent Synthesis is an entirely new approach to traditional medicinal chemistry. It incorporates innovative chemistry methodology, software, automation, microwave technology and reagents to safely speed up chemical reactions by between 10 and 1000 times, often with an increased yield of the compound. In addition to the increased speed and yield, the technology may solve complex chemistry problems that were previously very difficult to undertake using traditional methods. The licensed technology, adapted to the Coherent Synthesis platform, will be applicable both for batch and continuous processes.
"It is part of the company's strategy to continue the development and expansion of the Coherent Synthesis platform and the agreement with CSIRO adds a new dimension to it", said Hans Johansson, CEO of Personal Chemistry. "Our customers will be able to synthesize their chosen compound for use in clinical trials and ultimately the production of new drugs."
Personal Chemistry is a private Swedish company that develops and markets Coherent Synthesis, a complete solution for faster chemistry development within medicinal and combinatorial chemistry. The company has its headquarters in Uppsala and subsidiaries in Boston (US), Cambridge (UK) and Konstanz (Germany). Personal Chemistry currently employs 100 people of whom more than 40 are chemists. The company was founded by Dr Soeren Nygren and financed by HealthCap in 1998. 3i, Investor Growth Capital, Bank Invest and SEB have also invested in Personal Chemistry.
CSIRO, or the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, was founded in 1926 and is based in Canberra, Australia. It is one of the world's largest and most diversified scientific research institutions, employing 6,500 staff working in many disciplines including agriculture, minerals and energy, manufacturing, communications, construction, health and environment.