CSS Radio Goes Live; Chiral Building Blocks Range Announced

February 16, 2006

CSS Radio Goes Live; Chiral Building Blocks Range Announced

INFORMEX® provided the backdrop for a twin North American launch by CSS (Booth#327) of its new Carbon-14 radiolabeling services and Chiral Building Blocks range. Both introductions play to the company’s “connections” agenda of adding strongly-differentiated capabilities to give customers a unique and powerful combination of services.

The radio labeling service was previewed in Europe in late 2005, but manufacturing started just last month (January) and the Chiral Building Blocks rollout is all-new.

CSS – Chemical Synthesis Services – is part of Northern Ireland’s ALMAC Sciences group and one of Europe’s leading providers of pharma chemistry, analytical and manufacturing services. CSS provides capabilities in contract R&D, custom manufacturing, analytical services, peptide, protein and oligo synthesis and chiral manufacturing.

Radiolabeling Service:

With completion of an initial investment program in late 2005, CSS is now able to provide radiolabeling services for the development of compounds at any stage between drug discovery and launch. This additional CSS capability includes the labeling of peptides, oligonucleotides and cytotoxics.  The service has been designed to be synergistic with the company’s long established offerings in the synthesis of metabolites and APIs.

“There is clear demand for this type of standalone service: sufficiently flexible to compete with existing providers and in an area of growing demand to meet often complex customer needs”, says CSS’ VP Commercial Operations Dr. David Moody.

“Specific differentiation comes from our GMP offering and builds as customers “connect” with our specialist chemistry capability.  We can now synthesize and label just about any product entering clinical trials”, he adds.

Chiral Building Blocks:

CSS’ new Chiral Building Blocks package, unveiled for the first time at INFORMEX®, consists initially of four key building blocks, with molecules all available in gram to ton quantities. These are:

(R)-Propylene Carbonate

(R)-Styrene Oxide

(R)-3-Quinuclidinol

(S)-3-Quinuclidinol

The new range comes from the company’s work on bio-catalysis, both internally (Quinuclidinols) and in collaboration with IEP (Propylene Carbonate and Styrene Oxide) and marks another success story for The Chiral Consortium, which CSS co-founded in 2004. The other players are chemo-catalysis specialist ChiralQuest, of the US, and Germany’s bio-catalytic reduction technology leaders IEP.

“These productscan now bemanufactured anywhere and are therefore a superb fit with CSS’ ‘virtual manufacturing model’, says Moody. “We expect this approach to drive a major position for CSS as a recognized key supplier of chiral technologies combining quality, responsiveness and price competitiveness”, he added.

CSS operates primarily from a £25m., 80,000 sq. ft HQ and laboratory complex in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, opened in late 2003. Current facilities include two cGMP 50-600L production suites; small molecule kilo labs.; potent and cytotoxic manufacturing suites and state–of-the art R&D laboratories.

CSS has over 200 employees, including 120 scientists.

Notes for Editors:

The main portfolio of CSS’ technologies and services includes: Contract R&D (at lab-pilot plant scales), custom manufacturing – including process development, scale-up, validation, up to 100+ Kg cGMP manufacture; analytical services; cytotoxic process research, development and manufacture; peptide, protein and oligo synthesis; chiral manufacturing and isotopic labeling.

Capability in the chemical synthesis and purification of complex peptides is through the Scottish-based subsidiary CSS-Albachem. Based near Edinburgh, the company was established in 2004 when CSS acquired a controlling interest in Albachem.

In chiral manufacturing, CSS formed the world-leading Chiral Consortium in 2004. To CSS’ expertise in bio-resolution, route invention, scale-up and manufacture the Consortium adds the world-leading chemo-catalysis of US-based ChiralQuest and the bio-reduction capability of Germany’s IEP.

CSS, formed in 1992, is one of five divisions of the ALMAC Sciences pharma services group, operating across drug discovery, API manufacture, clinical trials and drug product manufacture. The group has facilities in the US, London and Northern Ireland.

ALMAC activities by division are: diagnostics (Almac Diagnostic Services); API contract research and manufacture (CSS); clinical supplies packaging, distribution and management (CTS); control and management of clinical trials (ICTI) and formulation, development and commercial scale manufacture and packaging of finished pharmaceuticals (PDMS).

– ENDS –

For further information contact:

Dr. Rosaleen McGuckin

Roger Johnstone

VP Business Development – CSS  Deben Editorial Services

Tel: +44 (0)28 3839 5830 Tel: +44 (0)161 614 1450

Mobile: +44 (0) 7803 830775  Mobile: +44 (0)7841 433141

Fax: +44 (0)28  3833 2299 Fax: +44 (0)161 614 1450

[email protected]                         

[email protected]

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