A brand new life sciences company, Molendotech Limited moves to Brixham Laboratory this month. The start up is a company borne out of a spin out project from the University of Plymouth and aims to build the business over the next few years.
Torbay’s Elected Mayor, Gordon Oliver, said: “Torbay continues to attract businesses across our key industries, of which life sciences is one. By bringing Molendotech into Torbay we are providing a growing company access to world class facilities at Brixham. The laboratory will enable the company to perform vital research and help their business develop.”
Molendotech, assisted by the University’s intellectual property partners, Frontier IP, has secured initial investment of £0.5M and has entered into a collaboration agreement with Palintest Limited, (part of FTSE 100 Halma group) to bring their novel water assays to market and develop further products.
Professor Simon Jackson, CEO of Molendotech, said: “Moving to Brixham Laboratory places the company in a unique position to develop the business further. We hope to develop further water and environmental testing products, build initial sales and grow our expansion into new markets.”
Molendotech’s rapid, point-of-use test is used to determine the concentration of faecal bacteria present in water. The new test leads to quicker and more informed decision-making which improves the ability to identify and track any pollution source.
Current tests in the market may take hours or even days to show results, whereas Molendotech’s technology typically produces results in under 15 minutes. This commercial opportunity is being seized in the UK with ambitions to export to international markets.
Attracting innovative life sciences and bio-tech companies to the Brixham Laboratory is a key objective in encouraging inward investment opportunities into Torbay, which continues to see both large UK and foreign owned companies choose Torbay as their preferred location.
Jason Buck, Investment Development Manager at TDA, said: “We are keen to support inward investment in this sector creating highly skilled jobs, to feed the local knowledge economy. TDA continues to support businesses to locate to the region, who want to grow and employ more people.”
Frank Roberts, Site Manager at the Brixham Lab, said: “We are excited to welcome Molendotech to the Brixham Laboratory facility and it is the perfect location for a successful spin out such as this. This represents the first spin out directly from The University of Plymouth, with many more in the pipeline at incubator stage. Molendotech joins a thriving and diverse business community here and we wish them every success at the Brixham Laboratory.”
Companies wanting to know more about how they can become part of Torbay’s growing life sciences cluster can contact Jason Buck, Investment Development Manager, on 01803 208799 or email jason.buck@tda.uk.net
You can join us on our social media pages, follow us on Facebook or Twitter and keep up to date with whats going on in South Devon.
Got a news story, blog or press release that you’d like to share or want to advertise with us? Contact us
