Posted: 19 February 2008
Celtic Catalysts wins international ‘Rising Star Award’
UCD spin-out company, Celtic Catalysts has won the international “Rising Star Award” at the BioIndustry Association (Scotland) Thistle Bioscience Forum 2008. The company was presented with the award following an open competition involving 12 biotech companies from Ireland, Scotland and Israel, in which each company pitched their development strategy to a panel of experts in front of an invited audience.Focussing on the area of chiral synthesis, Celtic Catalysts has developed a comprehensive portfolio of intellectual property and has carved out a strong niche for itself in the specialised area of P-chiral technology. This technology can be used in the production of a range of drugs which are particularly prevalent in anti-viral and anti-cancer therapeutic areas.
Pictured right: Kevin Dalton Sales Director, Celtic Catalysts (left) and Dr Brian Kelly, CEO Celtic Catalysts
Co-founded in 2000 by Dr Brian Kelly and Professor Declan Gilheany as a spin-out company from the UCD School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Celtic Catalysts currently employs 17 staff and is headquartered in NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin.
Celtic Catalysts and the three other Irish companies who took part in the competition: BiancaMed (also based in NovaUCD), EnBio and Luxcel Biosciences, are all members of IBEC’s Irish BioIndustry Association (IBIA). Each company is working on pioneering technologies which will ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of people all around the globe.
