The company is actively engaged in research programmes, which are designed to develop new products and services.

1) We sponsor a PhD student at the University of Warwick under a CASE award. This project, with Professors Alexi Lapkin and Guy Barker is examining the effect of components of Artemisia annua upon the crystallisation efficiency of artemisinin. This is a key industrial problem, where different manufacturers and different batches can yield substantially different amounts of artemisinin. Any improvement or injection of consistency into the crystallization process will help to stabilize worldwide supply of this API. We continue with research into the impurities present in artemisinin batches and to their use in tracing material through the supply chain

2) We assist the University of Newcastle and NHS in developing better methods for the assessment of islet cells prior to transplantation, in certain cases of diabetes. This takes two avenues, firstly the use of LCMSMS to standardize the ATP:DNA and ADP:DNA ratios in cell preparations and secondly, with Complement Genomics, we are looking at the biomarkers which can be used to determine the differences between normoxic and hypoxic cell cultures.

3) We are part of the Regenitherix consortium (National Physical Laboratory, Neotherix Ltd, Complement Genomics) which is partly funded by the TSB (www.innovateuk.org) which is looking at the biomarkers involved in the healing of the chronic wound. Our intention is to produce a device which can be used to determine the parameters of the wound as an aid to treatment. We have identified new biomarkers using microarray and proteomics approaches and are moving into the validation phase.

4) This year we will take on a summer placement student (University of Teeside) who will work on a chemometrics project concerning forensic identification of plant material.