Retrogenix Receives Its Second Prestigious Queen’s Award For Enterprise
Biotech recognized for outstanding growth in international trade
High Peak, UK, and Cambridge, USA, 21st April 2017. UK-based biotechnology company Retrogenix today announces that it has won a second Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its outstanding growth in international trade. Serving a niche market in pharmaceutical development, Retrogenix's export sales now account for over 85% of the company's total turnover.
The Retrogenix technology identifies the specific receptors on the surface of human cells that are targeted by biological or pharmaceutical molecules. A winner of the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2015, Retrogenix has removed a major bottleneck in medical research, drug discovery and safety assessment and is helping its pharmaceutical clients develop drugs which are safer and more effective across a range of diseases.
Co-founded in 2008 by scientists Dr Jim Freeth and Jo Soden, Retrogenix provides its screening service from specialized labs in the UK, supported by a commercial team which operates in Europe and the US. The growth in overseas sales of nearly 75% over a two year period has largely been fuelled by expansion within the US sites of global pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Jim Freeth, Director of Retrogenix, said: "It's a rare honour to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise for a second time and to be recognized both for innovation and for performance in overseas trade. Although we have now worked with 14 of the world's top 15 pharmaceutical companies, we continue to grow into new geographical regions as well as serving more specialized biotechnology companies working in exciting areas such as immuno-oncology."
Jo Soden, Director at Retrogenix, added: "We have a fantastic team that has contributed to these successes and we are continuing to develop the technology for an expanding range of applications allowing us to further accelerate research and development for our clients."
The Queen's Award for Enterprise is the UK's most prestigious acknowledgement of business performance, requiring the highest levels of excellence to be demonstrated for innovation, international trade, sustainable development, or for the promotion of opportunity through social mobility. Representatives from winning companies will attend a reception and meet the Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace later in the year.
About Retrogenix
Retrogenix’s proprietary cell microarray technology provides a fast, accurate and effective solution for determining the primary target and secondary target (off-target) activities of antibodies, proteins, small molecules and viruses. Microarrays of over 4,500 plasma membrane proteins expressed in human cells allow physiologically relevant interactions with test molecules or protein ligands to be identified with high sensitivity and specificity. Retrogenix’s technology has provided the critical breakthrough for a team studying the molecular mechanisms of severe malaria in children, the results of which were published in Nature (2013, 498:502). The technology is also widely used by major global pharmaceutical companies to advance drug discovery and development, predominantly in biologics research.
Retrogenix is headquartered near Manchester, UK, and has an office in Cambridge, MA.
www.retrogenix.com
Spokespeople from Retrogenix are available on request, for more information please contact:
Dr Elizabeth Kingsley
elizabeth.kingsley@retrogenix.com
+44 (0)114 400 0028
High Peak, UK, and Cambridge, USA, 21st April 2017. UK-based biotechnology company Retrogenix today announces that it has won a second Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its outstanding growth in international trade. Serving a niche market in pharmaceutical development, Retrogenix's export sales now account for over 85% of the company's total turnover.
The Retrogenix technology identifies the specific receptors on the surface of human cells that are targeted by biological or pharmaceutical molecules. A winner of the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2015, Retrogenix has removed a major bottleneck in medical research, drug discovery and safety assessment and is helping its pharmaceutical clients develop drugs which are safer and more effective across a range of diseases.
Co-founded in 2008 by scientists Dr Jim Freeth and Jo Soden, Retrogenix provides its screening service from specialized labs in the UK, supported by a commercial team which operates in Europe and the US. The growth in overseas sales of nearly 75% over a two year period has largely been fuelled by expansion within the US sites of global pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Jim Freeth, Director of Retrogenix, said: "It's a rare honour to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise for a second time and to be recognized both for innovation and for performance in overseas trade. Although we have now worked with 14 of the world's top 15 pharmaceutical companies, we continue to grow into new geographical regions as well as serving more specialized biotechnology companies working in exciting areas such as immuno-oncology."
Jo Soden, Director at Retrogenix, added: "We have a fantastic team that has contributed to these successes and we are continuing to develop the technology for an expanding range of applications allowing us to further accelerate research and development for our clients."
The Queen's Award for Enterprise is the UK's most prestigious acknowledgement of business performance, requiring the highest levels of excellence to be demonstrated for innovation, international trade, sustainable development, or for the promotion of opportunity through social mobility. Representatives from winning companies will attend a reception and meet the Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace later in the year.
About Retrogenix
Retrogenix’s proprietary cell microarray technology provides a fast, accurate and effective solution for determining the primary target and secondary target (off-target) activities of antibodies, proteins, small molecules and viruses. Microarrays of over 4,500 plasma membrane proteins expressed in human cells allow physiologically relevant interactions with test molecules or protein ligands to be identified with high sensitivity and specificity. Retrogenix’s technology has provided the critical breakthrough for a team studying the molecular mechanisms of severe malaria in children, the results of which were published in Nature (2013, 498:502). The technology is also widely used by major global pharmaceutical companies to advance drug discovery and development, predominantly in biologics research.
Retrogenix is headquartered near Manchester, UK, and has an office in Cambridge, MA.
www.retrogenix.com
Spokespeople from Retrogenix are available on request, for more information please contact:
Dr Elizabeth Kingsley
elizabeth.kingsley@retrogenix.com
+44 (0)114 400 0028