A PROJECT between Northern Ireland scientists and biotech firm Fusion Antibodies has earned Queen's University a national award marking cooperation between academia and industry.
The project which speeds up the production of a diagnostic kit for infectious diseases has won the Knowledge Transfer Partnership Northern Ireland regional award in recognition of KTP Associate Dr Henry Kwok’s work in developing the partnership betwe
en Fusion and the School of Pharmacy which began in 2004.
His work has enabled Fusion to produce protein from a target DNA sequence within a third of the usual time for use in a range of applications in basic research, diagnostics and therapeutics.
“The project was an excellent opportunity to work collaborating with Fusion Antibodies,” said research leader Dr Chris Scott.
“These proteins can be used in the battle against infectious diseases and the development of cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Plans are under way to produce the kit commercially.
“This is an excellent example of the way in which Queen’s can help to produce jobs and revenue in Northern Ireland.”
Dr Shane Olwill, of Dunmurry-based Fusion Antibodies, said the KTP programme had allowed the firm to overcome bottlenecks in production capabilities.
“Our partners at Queen’s introduced some key improvements allowing scale-up of protein production in a cost-effective manner.”
Fusion Antibodies was itself established in 2001 as a spin-off from Queen’s when it was established to service the market for antibodies for researchers.
KTP is a UK wide programme funded by 18 organisations and headed by the Technology Strategy Board, a business-led executive non-departmental public body.
The programme aims to increase the interaction between businesses and academic institutions and provides company based training for recently qualified people to enhance their business and specialist skills.
Queen’s is the biggest participant of KTP in the UK with 42 live programmes at present.
Commenting on his award Dr Kwok said the programme had allowed him “a unique chance to develop my scientific career by working in both industrial and academic environments which gave me a chance to learn valuable managerial and technical experience”.
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