CALIN project wins €5 million of extra funding

The Celtic Advanced Life Science Innovation Network (CALIN) has secured an extra €5 million of funding from the European Regional Development Fund to continue its ground-breaking work developing new medical products with small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s).

The network was established in 2016 to co-ordinate links between Welsh and Irish universities with SME’s, providing scientific expertise to private companies who need high quality researchers and enabling technologies to pursue their business goals. Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has been heavily involved with CALIN since its inception, and has been instrumental in its success, which has seen the establishment of 36 collaborative projects, created at least 20 jobs, and has assisted over 100 companies.

Some CALIN projects the School of Pharmacy have been involved with include using the nutrients gathered naturally by seaweed to source marine minerals, studying the collagen from invasive limpets for potential use in bone cements, and searching for new antibodies for therapeutic use. The expertise of Cardiff University’s scientists has enabled the SME’s involved with this work to drive forward their research.

Professor Arwyn Jones, lead Cardiff University academic for the project said, “This additional funding is excellent news, allowing us to further consolidate our strong links with Swansea and Bangor University and three research centres of excellence in Ireland. It allows us to further expand our extensive business-support network developed in the first phase of CALIN and to now support more SME’s in Wales and Ireland.”

The CALIN network sees Cardiff University partner with Swansea University, Bangor University, University College Dublin, The National University of Ireland Galway and Tyndall National Institute.