Cooke & Arkwright
News
New facility for ground breaking research
24/11/05
A new 8,150 sq ft development of business units at Dunraven Business Park in Bridgend has been fully let to Zoobiotic Ltd, which is to base its ground-breaking research into the application of maggot therapy at the site.
The three separate units, which have been let by agents Cooke & Arkwright on behalf of locally based developer Fulgo Developments, are being consolidated to incorporate state-of-the-art pharmaceutical clean rooms.Zoobiotic Ltd has already employed 19 employees and is looking to create a further 50 jobs over the next two years.
Zoobiotic Ltd researches the treatment of cleaning wounds using the LarvE brand of maggots which selectively remove dead or diseased tissue on infected wounds. More than 20,000 people have been treated in this way since the mid 1990s and the treatment is now included in the list of medicinal products that general practitioners may prescribe. Zoobiotic was ‘spun out’ from Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust, which retains a 40% shareholding in the company, and has been based until now at the Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory in the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend.
Finance Director Annis Paul said that Zoobiotic Ltd hoped to be in full occupancy at the site by February or March 2006. “We are installing offices at mezzanine level, laboratories with further offices on a second mezzanine, a downstairs staff room and board room, and a 2,500 sq ft large ‘clean’ room for maggot production,” she said. “These new facilities will provide the ideal base for us to take the therapy forward, expand the research and establish its full potential in the treatment of necrotic and infected wounds around the world.”
In the most recent development, Zoobiotic is extending its therapy into Poland where a young boy with serious injuries made a remarkable recovery following maggot treatment. The results, which were screened in a television documentary, were so impressive that they have attracted extensive interest from medical establishments and throughout the media in Poland.
Scott Forde, Commercial Director at Zoobiotic said, “We have been approached by doctors in Poland and now plan to deliver further supplies of LarvE maggots for the benefit of patients there. Following on from that, we will be looking to develop maggot therapy across Europe. We have already had interest from many other European countries.”
He went on to explain that the treatment has the potential to save the NHS in the UK a lot of money. “This is a very cost effective and natural form of therapy, and whereas conventional treatments can often take weeks or even months, LarvE can clean a wound in days. Additionally, patients can often be treated in their own homes, saving hospital beds.”
Mr Forde said that the new site in Bridgend would provide the finest facility for maggot production anywhere in the world. “Once validated and approved to pharmaceutical standards, the site will confirm that Zoobiotic is unique in using techniques and processes to produce sterile maggots.”
The treatment could also benefit patients and hospitals in the ongoing battle against the MRSA super bug. Zoobiotic Executive Chairman Sir Roger Jones, who is also Chairman of the WDA said, “There is evidence that the maggots can be used to combat wound infections caused by MRSA.”
Judith Fulgoni, a partner with Piero Fulgoni at Fulgo Developments, said that they were delighted that Zoobiotic had taken the first phase of the development. “The work that the organisation carries out is highly significant and we are very pleased to have provided suitable facilities to enable Zoobiotic to continue its pioneering research in the Bridgend area.”
Sam Vyas of Cooke & Arkwright said, “We worked with Fulgo Developments from the concept and are delighted that such an important facility should be the first to be based here. The employment it will bring to the area is also very welcome.” He added that a further 11,500 sq ft remained to be developed at the site and work on the next phase of 4,075 sq ft had commenced. “We are sure we will attract clients of a similar calibre when the remainder of the site is completed,” he said.