Cygnus Technologies
cygnustechnologies.com
Year founded: 1997
Number of employees: 40
Top official: Christine Dolan, COO
Company description: Develops and deliver products, analytics and technical expertise in bioprocess impurity detection to ensure drug safety
Target market: Global biopharmaceutical, bioprocessing, cell and gene therapy
Company growth: The company was founded by Ken Hoffman and joined by his brother Jim in the Boston area. They relocated the business to Southport in 2003 to a small lab facility. Since then, Cygnus has seen double-digit year-on-year growth and has added 40 scientific and professional jobs. “Cygnus technologies is a globally recognized name in the industry. Customers visit the area from Asia, India, Europe and across the U.S. Cygnus ships product globally five days a week. Cygnus’ growth has created over 40 professional and scientific jobs as well as internship opportunities for local students.”
How did you originally come up with the concept for your product? “When the company was founded more than 20 years ago the biopharmaceutical industry was in its infancy, and there were no clear regulatory guidelines established by the FDA. As such the industry was struggling with determining the best technology to measure impurities in their injectable drugs. Our background had been in clinical chemistry using ultra-sensitive technology to diagnose human disease. We believed that technology would best meet the needs of the biopharmaceutical industry and through publications, early product offerings and participation at scientific conferences with the FDA and other industry stakeholders we were able to convince the industry to apply our technologies.”
What are your future goals? “As the global leader in bioprocess impurity detection products and services, Cygnus will continue to grow as we support customers to advance their drug candidates.”
Flow Sciences Inc.
flowsciences.com
Year founded: 1987
Number of employees: 69
Top official: Ray Ryan, president and CEO
Company description: Produces glove boxes, fume hoods and solvent safety cabinets, powder hoods and HEPA fan-filter units
Target market: Pharmaceutical and chemical industry research development and manufacturing
Company growth: “We started out with testing services and are now a manufacturing company relied upon for equipment for the scale-up and manufacturing of HPAPI (high potency active pharmaceutical ingredients).”
How did you originally come up with the concept for your product? “The NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) in Durham needed a new type of laboratory hood for the safe weighing of hazardous chemicals. This resulted in a product known in the industry as a ‘vented enclosure’ or ‘powder hood’ utilizing engineering techniques and the science of air flow.”
What are your future goals for the product? “To build more sophisticated products for the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and chemical industries. Advances in nanotechnology and medicines further the need for containment of potent compounds. Our clients wish us to continue the growth of our company to a wider portfolio of products and the number of countries served.”
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