Company Directory

Antibodies, proteins and immunoassays for life science research

Proteintech Europe is the UK and European subsidiary of Proteintech Group, a US-based manufacturer of research reagents. The company produces antibodies, recombinant proteins, nanobodies and immunoassay kits for life science research, with a catalogue covering more than 13,000 protein targets. Additional product lines include human cell-expressed cytokines and growth factors in research and GMP grades, ELISA kits, and nanobody-based affinity reagents. The Manchester site supports commercial and technical operations for UK and European markets.

Infectious disease antigens and antibodies for diagnostics and research

The Native Antigen Company is a manufacturer of native and recombinant antigens, antibodies, and immunoassays for viral and bacterial infectious disease targets. Products are supplied to IVD manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and academic institutions for use in immunoassay development, serology, vaccine research, and quality control. Contract services include custom antigen manufacture, antibody generation, and assay development using a proprietary mammalian cell expression system for native-like protein production.

Colorimetric assay kits for extracellular matrix analysis and quantification

Biocolor is a Northern Ireland manufacturer of dye-based, colorimetric assay kits for the quantitative analysis of extracellular matrix biomolecules. Its product range covers collagen, elastin, sulfated glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, hyaluronic acid, and apoptosis, using a simple dye-binding method compatible with standard laboratory spectrophotometers. Kits are widely cited in scientific literature and used in research across connective tissue biology, drug discovery, and bioengineering.

Microgravity-based CDMO platform for crystallisation of biologic drugs

BioOrbit is a biotech developing a proprietary hardware platform for the crystallisation of protein-based biologic drugs in low Earth orbit. The company exploits the absence of gravity-driven convection in microgravity to produce larger, more uniform protein crystals than ground-based methods allow, enabling high-concentration, low-viscosity formulations suitable for subcutaneous delivery. It is targeting monoclonal antibodies as its primary application, with its first orbital payload delivered in 2024.

Peptide discovery platform targeting cell-surface therapeutic targets

Orbit Discovery is a drug discovery company providing peptide lead identification services using a proprietary bead-based peptide display engine combined with microfluidic functional screening. The platform screens libraries of over one billion natural and non-natural peptides against challenging cell-surface targets, including GPCRs, and outputs functional therapeutic leads for peptide, peptidomimetic, and small molecule drug programmes. Orbit serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners across oncology, radiopharmaceuticals, and oligonucleotide delivery applications.

Benchtop platform for rapid cell-free protein expression and screening

Nuclera is a Cambridge-based biotechnology company developing benchtop systems for rapid protein expression and screening. Its discovery platform integrates cell-free protein synthesis, digital microfluidics, and automated construct screening to deliver soluble, active proteins in under 48 hours. The system is designed to accelerate protein-dependent workflows in drug discovery, biologics development, and research, reducing the time and cost traditionally associated with protein expression and purification.

Speciality enzyme discovery, development, and commercial-scale manufacture

Biocatalysts is a Welsh industrial biotechnology company specialising in the discovery, development, and commercial-scale manufacture of speciality enzymes. Operating from fermentation and downstream processing facilities in Nantgarw, the company serves food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and life science industries with both catalogue enzyme products and bespoke custom development services. Its metagenomics platform supports novel enzyme discovery. Biocatalysts is a wholly owned subsidiary of BRAIN Biotech AG and holds multiple international quality and food safety certifications.

Nanopore platform for single-molecule full-length protein sequencing

Portal Biotech is a biotechnology company developing benchtop nanopore instruments for single-molecule proteomics and metabolomics. Its platform uses bioengineered nanopores coupled with machine learning to sequence intact, full-length proteins at the single-molecule level, capturing protein mutations, modifications and heterogeneity in real time. Evolved from over a decade of academic nanopore research in the Maglia Lab at the University of Groningen, the technology targets drug discovery, diagnostics and biosecurity applications.

Contract proteomics CRO and inventor of TMT isobaric mass tags

Proteome Sciences is a contract proteomics organisation and reagent manufacturer specialising in mass spectrometry-based protein biomarker discovery, validation, and targeted assay development. Its proprietary workflows serve pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients across drug discovery and clinical research. The company invented Tandem Mass Tag isobaric labelling reagents, now manufactured at its Frankfurt laboratory and distributed globally by Thermo Scientific under licence. Disease focus includes neurodegeneration, oncology, and stroke.

Mammalian recombinant protein production and cell line development services

Daresbury Proteins is a contract research organisation specialising in mammalian recombinant protein production and cell line development. Using proprietary expression vectors optimised for CHO-K1 and HEK293 systems, the company produces difficult-to-express proteins as research reagents and candidate targets for pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. Services include stable pool and clonal cell line generation, with cell lines transferable to third-party cGMP manufacturing settings. Background intellectual property has been licensed to Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Mass photometry instruments for single-molecule biomolecular characterisation

Refeyn is an analytical instrumentation company and the pioneer of mass photometry, a light-scattering technique that measures the mass of individual molecules in solution without labels. Its benchtop instruments serve pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic customers for characterisation of proteins, nucleic acids, antibodies, and viral vectors including AAV and lentiviral vectors used in gene therapy. Applications span drug discovery, biotherapeutic development, and gene therapy manufacturing quality control.

AI platform for in silico antibody discovery

Antiverse is a Cardiff-based company using machine learning to identify diverse and rare antibody candidates from next-generation sequencing data of naïve and immune repertoires. Its AI-augmented discovery platform analyses NGS data in silico to shortlist effective and developable antibodies, claiming a tenfold improvement in hit rates compared to conventional approaches. The platform is already in use with large pharmaceutical companies and is being expanded to a broader customer base targeting oncology, cardiovascular, and respiratory indications.