9 Aug 2013
The All-Ireland Group Summer 2013 Lecture entitled Industrially Important Enzymes and Their Applications in the Pharmaceutical Industry was delivered by Dr. Tom Moody, Head of Biocatalysis & Isotope Chemistry, Almac Group on 25 July 2013, to a packed lecture hall in the Chemistry department at Trinity College Dublin.
Dr. Moody provided a great insight in to business model of Almac, from the initial discovery of novel enzymes through metagenomic screening, subsequent selection and optimization through rapid directed evolution, and finally scale up and manufacture of products using the prepared enzyme/cell lysate or bacteria in key transformations.
Some notable projects using Almac breakthroughs were the production of woody acetate (a component of CK aftershaves/perfumes), as well as bioremediation works on cyanide ions using in house produced enzymes.
In a closing address, Dr. Moody pointed to the recent announcement of up to 300 new jobs from ongoing expansion in Almac, both in their Northern Ireland and worldwide sites. Almac in Craigavon have a facility capable of taking projects from R&D through to non-GMP and GMP production as well as sterile packing. The audience and SCI members were directed to the Almac careers website for further information.
The 2012 Wesley Cocker award was also presented to Susan James and David Collins (pictured above) who were presented with one-year's free SCI membership, paid for by the All Ireland Group and a cash prize of €250 each.
Robin Daly,
Hon. Secretary,
All Ireland Group
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