Flowchem firm joins fight against Coronavirus

Flow chemistry engineering firm Vapourtec is looking to collaborate with industrial and academic organisations by offering its resources and experience to those currently involved in the fight against Coronavirus.

Vapourtec founder and MD Duncan Guthrie commented: “We are able to aid and support research in the fight against COVID-19.

“Our labs are well equipped with a comprehensive range of flow reactors and associated in-line and offline analytical equipment. Our team has vast experience in flow chemistry techniques and converting batch synthesis to flow.

“We are already supporting our collaborating partners in a variety of ways. The adoption of flow chemistry in one or more synthesis steps may help to accelerate the development of (your taken out) synthesis, provide more material for trials or provide valuable information towards reaction kinetics. 

“Vapourtec is exploring solid phase peptide synthesis techniques in continuous flow for the synthesis of AMP (antimicrobial peptides) antiviral peptides. This class of peptide has been highlighted as one of the promising drugs targeting Covid-19.

“The engineering team at Vapourtec has also developed a flow reactor with the purpose of rapidly accelerating the PCR (polymerise chain reaction) process used in the processing of all COVID-19 swab tests.

“We would encourage groups to contact us if they think flow processing can contribute to COVID-19 research. We have equipment ready to loan out if required,” added Duncan

Vapourtec, based close to Cambridge, UK, design and manufacture flow chemistry systems, reactors and pumps that are used for drug discovery by all of the major global pharmaceutical giants as well as hundreds of academic chemistry groups around the world.

Their systems have been cited in the discovery of medicines for conditions including breast cancer and malaria as well as in over 550 scientific peer review publications.

Established in 2003, Vapourtec currently employs 24. For more information visit www.vapourtec.com