Rowett Research Services plays an important role in taking ideas from the bench to the market place. The company has been active in helping to develop intellectual property for commercialisation.


Creating New Companies

Cardioflow is a patented plant extract found in certain food helps to maintain the balance between healthy blood flow and clotting. This technology together with others also originating at the Rowett in the health promoting foods sector form the basis of Provexis a joint venture between RRS and Progeny bioVentures Limited a subsidiary of ANGLE Technology Ltd.

Provexis was founded in 1999 and is currently conducting volunteer trials with Cardioflow. Other products in the gut-health, osteoporosis and arthritis market are in development.

Supporting development of new ideas

We play an active role in taking ideas and inventions from the Rowett Institute and developing them for the market.

RRS has held two DTI SMART awards in recent years. Following the grant both have moved to commercial development

SMART 1997: Our 1997 award was to develop Colostrum Derived Growth Factor (CDGF). CDGF produced in colostrums, a milk like fluid produced by mammals in the first 24-36 hours after giving birth, may play a major role in the development of the gut and immune system in the newborn. It has potential applications in specialist formulations for infants and premature babies There is evidence that it may be active as a therapeutic for inflammatory disorders or wound healing (as demonstrated by its inhibition of NF-kB in epithelial cells).

RRS has now entered into a strategic alliance with a major international, specialist nutrition company to develop CDGF.

SMART 1999: In 1999 we received our second SMART award to develop patented technology associated with the more efficient use of cultured animal cells as factories for bulk expression of specialist proteins such as metallothionen. The technology, for which applications include vaccine and drug development, now forms the platform for a new Norwegian based biotech company 3Primelab which has been formed by the three inventors.

In collaboration with our sister organisation the Rowett Research Institute, RRS was involved in the development and currently manages three projects under the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Scheme.

Proof of Concept (PoC) provides grant support for up to two years to take ideas from the bench and develop them for the market place. Our three projects, all of which started in 2001 cover a variety of areas associated with health and nutrition. We are currently looking for commercial partners to take these projects to the next stage of commercialisation.

Natural Inhibitors of E.coli 0157
The Gut Microbiology and Immunology Group of the Rowett research Institute has identified two families of naturally occurring compounds that inhibit E.coli 0157 and other food pathogens. Together these compounds act synergistically as an effective killer of food borne pathogens, in particular E.coli 0157. Due to the nature of the compounds the potential for commercial exploitation is vast with applications in solutions for sterilization of surfaces coming into contact with carcasses and raw meat; in food packaging and preparation; and potential for use as animal food additives for reducing the number of bacteria in cattle prior to slaughter and/or reducing the number of bacteria shed in faeces and thus entering and contaminating the environment. There is also the potential for developing the technology for human use to treat individuals infected with the pathogen.

Design of therapeutic antioxidants
The Cellular Integrity Group of the Rowett Research Institute together with the Medicinal Chemistry group of Glasgow University have developed a novel high-potency antioxidant based on the structural modification of naturally occurring phytochemicals.

These new synthetic antioxidants could have significant therapeutic benefits imparted by their enhanced antioxidant and bioavailable properties. Free-radical-mediated oxidative damage to cells is implicated in the development of many clinical conditions, including ischaemic-reperfusion injury following strokes and heart attacks, neurological disorders, arthritis, cancers and heart disease. Chronic infective states may also lead to increased free radical stress by immune system activation.

Novel marker of meat eating quality
Livestock and meat production represents almost half of Scotlandís agricultural output and provides jobs in the rural economy. However latest figures show a decline in output value resulting from increased costs, poor prices, exporting difficulties and cheap imports.

Scotland must compete on a quality basis, but in order to do so, it must be able to differentiate its meat in terms of eating quality and in a way that is measurable, giving consumers some level of quality assurance and producers a competitive advantage. No such system exists at present.

The Muscle Biology Group at the Rowett Research Institute is developing innovative ways of measuring eating quality based on novel technologies that generate markers from meat samples representing the extremes of eating quality. Through this a quality assurance system will be developed that linked to a marketing scheme could drive a four percent increase in sales output and secure long term rural employment.

RRS is active in finding new and innovative ways of transferring knowledge from the Rowett Research Institute to commerce. Together with NCIMB Ltd we have been awarded a Teaching Company Scheme(TCS) worth £115k to improve methods for storing and transporting anaerobic microorganisms. TCS is a UK government scheme that enables companies to take advantage of the wide range of expertise available in the research base. The project will last for three years and in addition to expanding the application of NCIMBís novel storage and delivery technology using Rowett's expertise of anaerobic bacteriology it aims to identify novel anaerobic microorganisms and their products with commercial potential.