Reaxa – New Catalyst Technologies Company Launched
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Reaxa Limited, a new catalyst technologies company, formally commenced trading on the 22 June 2005 following a successful spin-out from Avecia.
Reaxa offers new product platforms for "easier, faster and cleaner chemistry" in pharmaceutical and specialty chemical production. First announced in January at the US Chemical Industry trade show – Informex in Las Vegas, Reaxa is a combined venture between the company's management team, Professor Steven Ley of the University of Cambridge and Avecia.
External investment has been raised and managed by Acceleris Corporate Ventures Ltd, of Wigan, UK. Reaxa expects to generate annual revenues in excess of US $20m by 2009. Based on award-winning encapsulated catalyst technology (EnCat™) and scavenger resins (QuadraPure™), Reaxa's cleaner chemistry reduces time, cost and environmental burdens in developing new drugs to market.
Following commercial launch in late 2003, EnCat™ products have attracted strong market interest and good initial sales. Several new additions to the range are currently in development for commercial launch later this year and in 2006.
"Reaxa's focus as a stand-alone business is to concentrate on new process chemistries that will meet R&D and production challenges in synthesis of complex new drugs", says CEO Dr Pete Jackson. "Our clean catalysis technologies particularly address sustainability issues, via innovation in both existing chemical toolkits - and the advance of new catalyst-based programmes".
In parallel with his Reaxa role, Dr Jackson continues as Avecia Pharmaceuticals' vice president for Pharmaceutical Products, with particular focus on new technology applications. Reaxa technologies combine new approaches to immobilizing the precious metal catalysts increasingly important in drug production and more efficient recovery of metal contaminants from products and process waste.
Partnering these approaches reduces contamination and clean-up costs and enhances re-use and re-cycling of expensive materials otherwise prone to loss within current often complex production processes. The company's technology 'pipeline' reflects Reaxa's strengths in catalysis and polymer chemistry, together with synthetic organic chemistry, process development and scale-up.
These are combined with Professor Steve Ley's (University of Cambridge) expertise in supported reagent technologies and novel synthetic approaches to complex drugs. Reaxa will retain its dedicated commercial, R&D and manufacturing facilities at the Avecia site in Manchester, UK.
