Celtic Catalysts, the award winning NovaUCD-based life sciences company, has secured €500,000 in funding from existing investor, 4th Level Ventures and private investors.

Dr Brian Kelly, CEO & co-founder, Celtic Catalysts

Celtic Catalysts has carved out a uniquely strong niche for itself in the specialised area of ‘P-chiral’ technology which enables global pharmaceutical companies manufacture drugs, particularly those in anti-viral and anti-cancer therapeutic areas, more cost effectively.

Celtic Catalysts was co-founded in 2000 by Professor Declan Gilheany and Dr Brian Kelly as a spin-out from UCD’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The company currently employs 17 people and is headquartered in NovaUCD the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin. Celtic Catalysts has now secured over €2.5 million in investment from 4th Level Ventures, Enterprise Ireland, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Business Expansion Scheme investors.

On securing this investment, Dr Brian Kelly, CEO, Celtic Catalysts said, “This investment will assist Celtic Catalysts in closing some very exciting near-term opportunities.” He added that “Due to further projected growth, the company will seek to raise additional capital to enable it to develop scale-up production facilities to manufacture bulk quantities of its products and to address additional high-value opportunities.”

Earlier this year Celtic Catalysts was presented with the NovaUCD 2008 Innovation Award in recognition of its successful commercialisation of chiral synthesis research which took place over many years at UCD. In addition it was the international winner of the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the BioIndustry Association (Scotland) Thistle Bioscience Forum 2008.

Ray Naughton, co-founder, 4th Level Ventures said, “Celtic Catalysts continues to perform to plan and this investment allows the company to achieve another critical milestone.”

Along with product sales, Celtic Catalysts has already signed several research alliance agreements with a number of multinational pharmaceutical companies. These research alliance agreements enable Celtic Catalysts utilise their expertise and technology to solve problems being encountered by pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the manufacture of their drugs.

ENDS

7 October 2008

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e-mail: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, tel: (01) 716 3712.

Editors Notes

Celtic Catalysts is a leading supplier of chiral products and technology to the Fine Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotech industries. Celtic Catalysts focuses on the area of chiral synthesis and it has developed a comprehensive portfolio of intellectual property and carved out a uniquely strong niche for itself in the specialised area of P-chiral technology. The company is commercialising chiral technology, developed over many years in UCD’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

4th Level Ventures is a €20 million Venture Capital Fund founded in 2002 by Dr Dennis Jennings and Ray Naughton and managed by Dolmen Securities. 4th Level Ventures focuses exclusively on investing in companies whose intellectual property arises from third-level education institutional research.

NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s €11 million Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre. Twenty-four knowledge-intensive companies, including Celtic Catalysts are currently located in NovaUCD. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.