Oban life science company GlycoMar Ltd has recently secured two substantial agreements with UK-based companies, Verona Pharma plc and Aquapharm Biodiscovery Ltd.

The signing of these agreements coincides with the launch of GlycoMar's commercial screening services, all of which are cell-based and do not involve testing on animals. GlycoMar managing director Dr Charlie Bavington set up the company in 2005 to exploit the potential of sugar-based compounds derived from marine invertebrates. GlycoMar has continued to expand its commercial success since 2005, when it made the headlines by extracting chemicals from starfish slime to combat allergies such as hay fever.

Dr Bavington said: "The introduction of this screening facility is a strategic move in the development of the company, and will allow us to increase income and provide vital capabilities for our own drug discovery programme"

Drug discovery company Verona Pharma plc has selected GlycoMar to provide evaluation of a range of novel anti-inflammatory polysaccharides (NAIPS), using the newly introduced screening services. Verona Pharma concentrates on developing new therapeutic drugs for inflammatory diseases, such as asthma.

Biotechnology company Aquapharm Biodiscovery, based at the EMCB site, has also signed an agreement with GlycoMar to utilize the newly available screening services.

CEO Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg said "GlycoMar's ability to provide a reliable, cost effective service that has been tailored to Aquapharm's needs has allowed us to progress with the development of our compounds for anti-inflammatory activities for both cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical applications ".

Aquapharm Biodiscovery specializes in the discovery and development of biologically active compounds derived from its library of novel marine microbes collected from the diverse UK coastline and beyond.

GlycoMar's shareholders were joined by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in providing the capital required to set up the screening facility. Ken Abernethy, area director of HIE Argyll and the Islands said, "We are always delighted when a company that we've assisted to start up, meets with success. However, we are particularly pleased that GlycoMar is winning scientific and commercial recognition, as it endorses our belief that Dunstaffnage is becoming a sought after centre of excellence in the life science sector."

These newly introduced services bring further attraction for additional life science companies to move to the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology (ECMB) at the Dunstaffnage science base.