Manchester's Alderley Park launches open-access NMR service

A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility has been launched at Manchester Science Partnership’s Alderley Park campus.

The facility, which is specifically tailored to the industry, provides companies access to NMR spectroscopy equipment, previously only accessible through academia. The Cheshire bioscience campus provided access to its two spectrometers – 500MHz and 700 MHz for commercial use as well as offering specialist advice and expertise on how they can be best used by companies performing chemistry synthesis, creating proteins, conducting biophysical studies or involved in the drug discovery process.

Dr Chris Doherty, managing director at Alderley Park, said: “We know that businesses have particular requirements when using NMR spectrometry and we’ve been able to tailor our service to offer the kind of unfettered access that companies need for their research.

“In addition to providing open and timely access to the equipment, we can offer advice and guidance as how best to use the technology, helping early-stage companies to obtain useful data quickly and efficiently, while avoiding pitfalls associated with the technique.

“We’re building a successful multi-occupancy model here and underpinning that is a genuine sense of collaboration. Many of the companies at the park will benefit greatly from use of the equipment.

“But it also strengthens Alderley Park’s credentials nationally. The combination of readily available NMR equipment and expert guidance on how to use it is a truly unique proposition in the UK and we’re already taking enquiries from external companies interested in using the equipment.”

The news will potentially benefit smaller start-ups in the sector, who will be able to utilise the equipment. Drug discovery company C4X Discovery, which has one the largest rosters of NMR spectroscopists qualified to operate the specialist equipment in Europe, is one such company that will benefit from access to the Park’s NMR facility.