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news.Developing crystallisation science excellence for manufacturing technologies: oscillated not stirred, a project of Chemical Sciences Scotland, has received a GBP709,900 investment from Scottish Funding Council (SFC) for manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals and medicines.
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The project’s collaborators include various small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), multinational corporations, the public sector and the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt.
The investment is expected to position Scotland as a global centre of excellence for crystallisation science.The new industry-led Centre of Excellence for Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallization is expected to serve as a new facility to revolutionize the way drugs are made by pushing the manufacture of high-value pharmaceuticals and medicines beyond existing boundaries.
Crystallization is used in the manufacturing process of 80% of pharmaceuticals and 60% of fine and specialty chemical products. The investment will initially fund the development of a new production technology, continuous crystallization, which uses oscillation rather than stirring to mix chemicals in large vats.
According to Chemicals Sciences Scotland, the technique yields increased quality and output, with lower energy requirement, cost and waste. The chemicals sector accounts for GBP3.5b worth of Scottish exports, making it the country’s top exporter, and around 25% of manufacturing by turnover, so the investment is an important one.
Caroline Strain, the head of chemicals science at Scottish Enterprise, said that the investment will make it much easier for university research to be translated into commercial solutions.
Sandy Dobbie, chair of Chemical Sciences Scotland, said: “In the future we would hope to see companies from across the globe come to Scotland and take advantage of this truly unique situation, one where the skills and strengths of the entire sector in Scotland come together and offer solutions for the global chemical, pharmaceutical and process industries.”
Carol Beattie, senior manager at Scottish Development International, said: “Scotland’s chemicals sector continues to grow and thrive because industry, academia and government merge together to expand research and development capabilities through enhanced public-private collaboration. With a national focus on excellence and innovation, the structure of our chemicals industry is truly unique and our research and manufacturing capabilities are among the finest in the world.”