2018 Biotechnology Awards

24 GHP / Biotechnology Awards 2018 , Originally formed in 2008 under the name Antibody Production Services (APS), the company’s initial focus was on the production of custom made monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies through the provision of a completely tailored service. APS also provided sera to other Suppliers as an OEM product. Over time, the company expanded, providing a wider range of options for antibody production, as well as a wider range of off-the-shelf serum and cell culture reagents and services. In 2016, the company underwent a rebranding process to become Life Science Group Ltd. Today, the company comprises of the two separate divisions: Antibody Production Services and Life Science Production (LSP). Each of these divisions offers a separate service, building on its knowledge and expertise to provide a unique range of products and solutions. LSP offers a range of cell culture sera including Foetal Bovine serum (FBS), Newborn calf serum (NBCS), Human AB serum, Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and associated cell culture media reagents. Additionally, the firm also offers contract manufacture services for the production of cell culture sera, media, buffers and other fluids. Alongside this, APS provides flexible and professional contract production of antibodies, both monoclonal and polyclonal, together with a large range of BI180027 Best Polyclonal & Monoclonal Antibody Producer - United Kingdom Life Science Group Ltd (LSG) is an independently owned UK based company providing contract services, together with a catalogue of immediately available products to support the life science industry and research activities. We profile the group to explore the range of innovative solutions it has to offer. associated services. Every product or service that LSG offer is fully customisable, to ensure that clients receive the solution they need. Client feedback is important to the group and it is constantly seeking new ways to adapt its service offering to meet its clients constantly evolving requirements. Working in conjunction, the two sides of the business aim to provide first class customer service, backed by technical expertise. The group’s management team has over 30 years’ experience in the production of sterile sera, media and antibodies for the research, manufacturing and in vitro diagnostic industries, which helps them to drive innovation and excellence throughout the firm. In addition to supplying direct to customers in the UK, LSG also works with a select group of distributing partners that expand its reach into the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), and APAC (Asia-Pacific) regions. Given the complexities of customs regulations for the importation of animal and human based products in different countries, and the need to be able to communicate with researchers in their local language, these distributing partners enable the group to supply the global market and provide them with their award- winning product offering. Quality is a core focus at the firm so that its solutions, services and products always meet the high standards that clients have come to expect and rely upon. Through regulatory compliance, the team at LSG are also able to offer complete assurance that their products come with full traceability and are supplied following all relevant licensing agreements as required by UK law. This focus on compliance is vital for the group’s ongoing success, as there are many developments driving the biotechnology market currently which revolve around even greater transparency and a reduced reliance on animal based products used in production and manufacture within the pharma, and in vitro diagnostics markets. The team fully supports the UK’s NC3Rs: (National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research) to Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of laboratory animals in the UK, and as such they are devoting resources to partner with suppliers to maintain the supply chain and also to jointly develop products that an either augment or replace existing product in a variety of applications. Recently, LSG has entered into a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Coventry University. KTP is a UK-wide programme that serves to meet a core strategic need and to identify innovative solutions to help support business growth. This project will focus on the use of AQIX® RSI Biopreservation Medium as the base constituent of a range of new, defined animal- free cell media as an alternative to FBS-containing media. These media will be designed for long term cell storage (freezing) and proliferation of a variety of different cell types, and will meet the needs of the research community, the demand of the Cell Therapy and Vaccine industries, and the legal requirement of the Home Office. This exciting project will help drive LSG to even greater success moving forward. Longer term, it is the intention of the Directors to place LSG into employee ownership in order that all staff members are involved fully within the business. Currently, the company operates very much as a team with shared responsibility for the success of the business, and this will be further enhanced by a change in ownership structure. Ultimately, aligning the interests of companies and their employees can make companies focus more on the long term, securing more sustainable growth, allowing the group to continue providing its clients with the high quality solutions that they need in this ever evolving market. Company: Life Science Group Ltd Contact: Anne van der Valk Address: Unit 14, Crowhill Farm, Ravensden Road, Wilden, MK44 2QS, UK Phone: 01234 889180 APS NTIBODY PRODUCTION SERVICES