Emergence client, Nautilus Biosciences, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Croda International Plc (“Croda”), has celebrated its official opening as the “Centre of Innovation for Marine Biotechnology“.
See: Nautilus Biosciences Officially Opens Its Expanded UPEI-Based Facility as Croda’s Centre of Innovation for Marine Biotechnology and High-tech robot to help with bioscience research at UPEI
Ribbon cutting – for the new Croda Centre of Innovation for Marine Biotechnology at UPEI, Charlottetown, PEI
A ribbon-cutting event, held at the Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre at the University of Prince Edward Island, included senior representatives from Croda, as well as the President of UPEI, Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, Provincial Minister of Health and Wellness, Robert Mitchell, and members of PEI’s bioscience business and research community.
The acquisition of Nautilus early in 2018, together with continued investment by Croda to establish their new Centre of Innovation for Marine Biotechnology, is designed to accelerate the company’s research and product development program that aims to identify sustainable, natural sources of functional ingredients for a broad range of personal, health and crop care ingredients for its global customers.
Sandra Breene, President, Personal Care at Croda
“Croda is a company that values innovation and invests in new technologies to deliver value to our customers today and in the future,” Sandra Breene, President, Personal Care at Croda International told us.
“The acquisition of Nautilus is part of our journey to expand from being a manufacturer of speciality chemicals into an organisation that embraces biotechnology as the answer to many of our customers and the consumer needs for new actives in a truly sustainable way.”
The opening of the expanded Nautilus facility follows Croda making a significant investment in an automated high-throughput screening system that can dramatically increase the discovery of novel products derived from the marine microbe library.
Dr. Russ Kerr, Canada Research Chair in Marine Natural Products at UPEI
Professor Russell Kerr, , and founder of Nautilus Biosciences, has worked since 2007 to establish the Marine Microbial Library at UPEI, collecting marine samples from the oceans of Canada and around the world and developing techniques to assess their value as sources of sustainable chemistry. A multi-year collaboration with Croda demonstrated to them the potential of marine natural products in providing new chemical entities.
“This is an exciting day for us,” Dr. Kerr told us. “We’ve been very fortunate to build on a relationship with a multinational speciality chemical company that values growth through sustainable innovation – enhancing our ability to discover even more marine microbes as a potential source of commercial ingredients. We are very proud to be opening this Centre of Innovation in Marine Biotechnology in Prince Edward Island.”
PEI’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Robert Mitchell
Nautilus is a successful spinout from the University of Prince Edward Island. Nautilus has exclusive access to the Marine Microbial Library which is based at the University.
“To see Dr. Kerr take a great idea, collaborate with other faculty and our students, and develop this idea into an entrepreneurial opportunity like Nautilus Biosciences is so wonderful, and what the University is here to support,” said Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island.
About Croda
Established in 1925, Croda is the name behind high performance ingredients and technologies in some of the world’s biggest and most successful brands: creating, making and selling speciality chemicals that are relied on by industries and consumers everywhere. They have a network of over 4,200 passionate and committed employees, working together as one global team across manufacturing sites and offices in 36 countries. Croda is a FTSE100 company with a flexible structure that allows them to focus on developing and delivering innovative, sustainable ingredients that their customers can build on in: Personal Care, Health Care, Crop Care, Polymer Additives, Lubricants, Coatings & Polymers, Geo Tech, Home Care and Industrial Specialities. http://www.croda.com/
About Nautilus Biosciences Croda
Nautilus Biosciences Canada Inc. is a technology-rich marine biotechnology company based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Founded in 2007 by Dr. Russell Kerr, Nautilus focuses on using marine microbial biodiversity to discover novel actives and materials.