10th June 2015
Official opening of Neem Biotech Ltd’s new facility in Abertillery, Wales
Neem Biotech will officially unveil its new purpose-built facilities in Abertillery, southeast Wales on the 11th of June 2015. Proceedings will be presided over by the Minister of Economy, Science and Transport in Wales, Edwina Hart. The joint CEOs of Zaluvida, Neem Biotech’s parent company, as well as the Group’s Chief Scientific Officer, and a member of Neem’s Scientific Advisory Board will also be present at the official opening.
These facilities have been made possible by joint funding from the Welsh Government, in the form of £225 000 business finance, as well as a £2 million investment from its parent company, Zaluvida Holdings.
Neem Biotech is a pre-clinical research organisation that works to develop bioactive compounds found in plant and marine sources into platform technologies used to fight against global threats to human and animal health and crop science. These threats include antimicrobial resistance, metabolic disease syndrome, immunomodulation and other areas of high unmet medical needs and/ or rare diseases. Particular areas of interest for Neem Biotech include cystic fibrosis, fatty liver disease and wound healing.
This move to a pre-clinical focus represents a transition in the activities of Neem Biotech. Neem retains its focus on the extraction of natural biomolecules, followed by analyzing and evaluating these biomolecules for clinical application in areas that are of medical interest, to the mutual benefit of customers and Neem Biotech itself.
Preparations are currently on track for the company to launch its first clinical trial towards the end of the year. This will involve assessing the effects of a polymolecular drug derived from extracts from garlic on the lung function of people with cystic fibrosis. MD of Neem Biotech, Dr Michael Graz, has described this clinical trial as a significant milestone both in the evolution of Neem Biotech as a company and as a potential antimicrobial treatment for resistant bacterial infections.
Over the past 16 years Neem has successfully conducted contract research in collaboration with a number of academic and commercial partners. It continues to explore possibilities for developing innovative products derived from natural bioactive compounds in response to customer requests and orders from industry and academia.
According to the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, the Life Sciences are one of the key economic sectors in Wales. Towards this end, the Welsh Government is actively developing the sector by supporting business growth, encouraging innovation and providing access to finance and expertise.
Dr Graz said: “These are exciting times for Neem Biotech. We have very ambitious plans for the future which could not have been undertaken in our former premises. Support and investment from our parent company and the Welsh Government has made this possible and I should also like to thank the wider life sciences community in Wales for their interest and support for our expansion plans.”
Staff will be recruited in Neem’s growth plans to drive the development of the pipeline projects, handle project management and clinical trial management tasks and include highly skilled staff in the fields of chemistry and life sciences, project managers, administrators and skilled manufacturing operators. To date, 9 new jobs have been created. A further 8 new highly skilled jobs will be created by 2016.