Professor Steve Howdle today met His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent who visited The University of Nottingham to hear about the latest world-changing research from staff and students. The visit celebrated the contribution of Nottingham chemists and engineers to the life and prosperity of the UK. Professor Howdle (pictured with His Royal Highness) discussed the work of Critical Pharmaceuticals and the use of supercritical fluids to replace volatile and potentially toxic conventional solvents which have led to advances in the fields of medicine and the environment.

 
Professor Steve Howdle, founder of Critical Pharmaceuticals, speaking to His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent at the University of Nottingham.

Critical Pharmaceuticals will be presenting at the Controlled Release Society’s Annual Conference in New York, from July 12th-16th 2008. This will be the busiest CRS conference to date for Critical Pharmaceuticals with two posters accepted for presentation, an invitation to present a podium presentation, acceptance for a 5 minute “soapbox” presentation, and an invitation to chair a session.

Critical Pharmaceuticals has been awarded a £33000 grant by the bioKneX Industrial Partnership Scheme to help it assess the potential of a recent discovery made at the company. The scheme was set up to help businesses access the expertise and facilities within universities in the East Midlands. Critical Pharmaceuticals will use the money to pay for research to be performed at the University of Nottingham which will assess the effectiveness and tolerability of a novel absorption enhancer that was discovered by the company last year that allows drugs such as insulin and human growth hormone to be given to patients by a nasal spray.

Dr Andy Lewis, Head of Formulation Development said, “This discovery is incredibly exciting because it opens up the possibility of developing nasal sprays for drugs that currently need to be injected, often several times a week. However before we can develop a product we need to carry out extensive testing and this award will help us begin this process. We are tremendously pleased to receive this award which helps us to not only work with Dr Snow Stolnick - one of the world leaders in the field - but also have access to the state of the art facilities at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham.”

Critical Pharmaceuticals has been awarded two CASE awards by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The awards will fund the training of two PhD students at the University of Nottingham starting October 2008. The two projects that will funded are:

1.    The Effect of Supercritical Fluid Processing Parameters on Product Performance – Sustained Release Biologics
(Academic Supervisor – Professor Steve Howdle).

2.    Supercritical Fluid Technology for Gastroretentive Formulations
(Academic supervisor – Dr Snow Stolnick).

Dr Andy Naylor, Head of Process Development at Critical Pharmaceuticals said, ”We are delighted to be successful in these applications and participate in training the next generation of bioscience researchers”. Professor Steve Howdle said, “The CASE award scheme is a fantastic opportunity for graduate students to gain experience in both academic and industrial environments.”