The universities of Sheffield and Leeds have launched a new spinout, Redbrick Molecular, that will market specialty chemicals.
Redbrick Molecular, a UK-based specialty chemicals producer, was spun out of the universities of Leeds and Sheffield today.
The spinout will sell building block and scaffold chemicals, created from synthetic methodologies and aimed at industrial drug discovery research and development. The chemicals are licensed from partner universities.
Redbrick Molecular has been set up to donate all profits back to the funding of academic research in chemistry. It will achieve this by grant funding projects at its member institutions.
The spinout is the brainchild of Simon Jones, a professor at University of Sheffield, and industrialist David Lathbury. Joe Harrity, professor at Sheffield, has also provided input, as have Steven Marsden and Adam Nelson, professors at University of Leeds.
Andy Hogben, managing director of Redbrick Molecular said: “Redbrick is specifically designed to act as a conduit between academic and industrial research.
“We focus on delivering industrial-grade products that are attractive to medicinal chemists working in research and development whilst supporting our academic partners to develop exciting new chemistry.”
Andy Duley, director of Innovation Services at University of Leeds said: “Commercialisation is an essential path to obtaining impact from our research. Our investment in Redbrick Molecular demonstrates Leeds’ commitment to identifying innovative routes to achieve research translation and knowledge exchange.”
