A partnership between Ulster University Professor in Biomedical Innovation, Chris McConville and Almac Sciences has been awarded nearly £100,000 by the Academy of Medical Sciences to set up a screening process for drug suitability and to reduce the cost and time of translating research to clinical trials.
“We do a lot of research within academia and then we have to ask ourselves, who’s going to make this? And what we find is we can’t make it the way we did in the lab. We have to change all of that to suit the Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO). That sparked an idea for me; I approached our market and specifically Almac Sciences and asked if there was anything they wanted to get start up together,” explained Chris.
“By uniting cutting-edge research with real-world pharmaceutical innovation, we began scoping how this work bridges the gap between lab bench and patient bedside, delivering advanced drug formulations that can transform treatment outcomes and redefine how medicines are made.”
The project started in August 2025, and Chris explained how it works:
“I spotlight the research I’m doing, and I work with Almac to see if it fits with their processes. What this then offers is low cost, high throughput which doesn’t require a lot of materials and can happen very quickly.
“This process can be used in many areas from nanotechnology to potential cell and gene therapies, translating research to medicines. We are reducing the cost, we have a pipeline to go through, and we can fail fast and pivot if needed.”
Tom Moody, Vice President, API Development and Commercialisation at Almac Sciences, commenting on the partnership said: “Working with Professor Chris McConville exemplifies the power of true scientific collaboration. His openness, deep expertise, and shared commitment to innovation have fostered a partnership that goes beyond technical development. Together, we are building a foundation of trust and knowledge exchange that is essential for advancing melt extrusion technologies and shaping the future of amorphous solid dispersions. It’s this spirit of collaboration that enables us to tackle complex formulation challenges and drive meaningful progress in pharmaceutical science,”
Chris is also the founder of Extruded Pharmaceuticals Ltd and has developed ChemoSeed, a device designed to be implanted at the surgical margin of hard-to-treat cancers such as brain and pancreatic cancer as well as other solid tumours such as prostate, breast, bladder, lung and liver cancer.
So, what do we need to expand this work in NI?
“We need a small shared GMP facility in Northern Ireland which would shorten the development pipeline and get medications that work to the patients quickly. It we don’t manufacture here; it ends up being made out of NI and doesn’t get to our local patients who need it for up to 10 years later.”
A GMP facility refers to a manufacturing environment that adheres to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), which are regulations ensuring the quality, safety, and efficacy of products such as pharmaceuticals, food, and medical devices. These facilities implement strict quality control standards and risk management practices to prevent contamination and defects in their products. Additionally, a GMP facility operates under controlled environmental conditions to guarantee the production of sterile and uncontaminated products.
“A lot of clinical trials end up being carried out in America. The product is then approved in America, and it can take up to five years to be approved in the EU and up to another five years to be approved in the UK.
“So, our patients in NI are 10 years behind in receiving new treatments. For something like glioblastoma, which I focus on, 3000 people are diagnosed a year in NI.”
“If we manufactured here; we could run our trials here and get the medications to the people who need it much faster.”
“We also need to invest in the administration staff – the research nurses who collect samples, consult with patients and get consent forms signed for example,” said Chris.
The Cross-Sector Experience Awards from the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) provide up to £100,000 to support individuals in gaining experience in a different sector for three to twelve months and the latest round is open until February 2026 https://acmedsci.ac.uk/cross-sector-experience-awards
The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) are the independent body in the UK representing the diversity of medical science with a mission to advance biomedical and health research and its translation into benefits for society.
