Innovative companies and academics are advancing and exploiting biotechnology to develop new ways to address societal, technical and environmental challenges. Ceratium have worked across this sector with leading research groups and biotech companies to address challenges in:

• Health using innovative technologies including the discovery and application of biologics, the use of various mechanisms to design and test advanced therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs), including cell therapies, and the use of innovative approaches including exosomes and retroviruses.
• Biomanufacturing advances in upscale and downscale processes using a range of cell factory concepts including bacterial, fungal and mammalian systems. Work has included looking at state of the art synthetic biology driven approaches to cell factory design, bioreactor optimisation and process scale up. A foresight and gap analysis exercise with the EUROFUNG Network led to a White Paper on research challenges on filamentous fungi in relation to  a sustainable bio-economy.

Our work on environment research and innovation covers climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials production and use. Our client objectives are achieving a resource efficient and climate change resilient economy and society, protecting and sustainably managing natural resources and ecosystems and ensuring a sustainable supply and use of raw materials, in order to meet the needs of a growing global population within the sustainable limits of the planet's natural resources and eco-systems.

Working with both academic and business clients we have worked in a diverse range of areas and helped design project strategies to win funding. Recent areas have included:

• Sewage epidemiology looking at contamination with drug residues at a range of European sites
• Working on multiple projects using natural materials to design and develop energy efficient sustainable buildings.
• Looking at high- and low-tech advances to develop sustainable agriculture in Europe and Latin America. Solutions have included plant design, animal husbandry, soil conditioning and farming practices.

Helping consortiums develop therapeutic interventions and medical advances

Ceratium have worked on proposals in a wide range of disease areas and the use of highly advanced technologies including: Regenerative medicine, monoclonal antibodies, breath diagnostics, ATMPs,  therapeutic microbiome products, cell and gene therapy, and nanomedicine. Projects have included the use of big data for patient stratification, precision medicine and biomarker development. We have gained considerable experience in health and rare disease policy areas, drug development pathways, clinical trial design and implementation, and the challenges of the regulatory processes.

• Rare diseases. - Ceratium have now worked on a many successful projects in the field of rare diseases, supporting proposal development and project management. Disease areas have included Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK), a rare infectious disease primarily affecting contact lens wearers, Alkaptonuria (AKU) a rare genetic condition, Cystic Fibrosis (CF) a life-limiting recessive genetic disorder, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) a genetic muscle wasting condition predominantly affecting boys and Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) a rare, aggressive and life-threatening syndrome of excessive immune activation. Our experienced team have also developed proposal for a number of disease areas including: COPD, ABC Cancer, Liver diseases ACLF and NASH, Primary hyperoxaluria, and kidney disease.
  
  
• Network development - European Reference Networks (ERNs) unite Europe’s leading clinical and research centres aiming to harmonise and implement standards for clinical and diagnostic best practice to improve health outcomes in rare disease patients across Europe. The ERNs also provide new opportunities for translational research, reducing the burden of chronic disabling conditions for families and healthcare systems in Europe. Ceratium was responsible for the proposal development for the largest ERN network, collating information from over 80 prospective Health Care Providers from across the EU, translating the network’s knowledge and experience to key ambitions resulting in a successful application.
  
  
• Clinical trials expertise - Ceratium staff have a proven track record in successful projects undertaking clinical trials from Phase 1-3. Understanding the needs of projects undertaking clinical trials is critical to a successful application. Our knowledge and experience working on clinical trial projects is key to writing winning proposals and supporting clinicians and trial sponsors with project management assistance and advice.

Ceratium’s roots are in the blue economy, initial experience was gained in biofouling control projects on maritime transport, immersed infrastructures and ocean observation projects. The marine environment and blue economy offers huge potential opportunities for our society through sustainably exploiting the diversity of marine life as food (fisheries and aquaculture), discovery and exploitation of novel marine derived biomolecules, enzymes and industrial biomaterials harnessing marine energy and offshore wind. We have now worked on a wide range of projects across the blue economy allowing us to develop a good background in policy drivers in key areas. In addition to the science we have supported client ocean literacy ambitions. Our experience has included:

• Aquaculture: our projects and client proposals have included control of biofouling on offshore aquaculture installations and work with a European Latin American consortium to combine high-tech science with local artisanal fishing communities.
• Biomolecules: we have been involved in projects exploiting newly discovered active biomolecules including antimicrobials and enzymes or multiple applications in health and industrial products.
• Greener marine fouling control: our project work has included developing innovative biocides and biocide free antifouling technologies for shipping, pipelines, ocean instruments, other immersed surfaces and recreation vessels.
• Ecosystem services and the environment: working with academics and businesses on training and proposal development we have developed the design of new resource management strategies, the impacts of marine energy installations and the use of ecosystem services.
• Marine and offshore energy: this sector has the potential to meet a growing share of Europe’s energy demands in the years to come. The marine environment provides research opportunities for ocean wave, tidal and offshore wind power. Ceratium have provided workshops and training for scientists active in marine energy enabling them to engage in H2020 research initiatives and explore the role of innovation in developing technology while implementing a long-term research strategy. We have several successful projects – see Energy.

Working on national (UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change and Innovate UK funding) and European (FP7 and H2020) we have supported successful projects in the on shore and off shore wind sectors, supported the UHI’s Merika project on marine energy, and projects developing next generation solar cells at the development and demonstration phases.

These projects have been designed to support the EC’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan and EC/UK policy drivers in developing secure renewable energy resources that address critical societal needs to address climate change and energy security through decarbonisation of energy supply and enhancing future clean electricity generation capacity in the evolving European smart grid.

SMEs represent 99% of all European enterprises and provide 75 million jobs in the private sector. Research intensive SMEs are the main economic drivers of healthcare, biotechnology and medical technologies and contribute significantly to other sectors.

SMEs are fast and more flexible to innovation and commercially exploiting research outcomes, especially when speed is important to bring new technologies to the market ahead of competitors. SMEs are often able to find and utilise market niches creating commercial opportunities missed by larger businesses.

Ceratium work with a range of world leading SMEs in many different industries. These companies are often key parts of consortia in Research and Innovation Actions and Marie Curie Innovative Training Networks at a European level. The EC SME Instrument also provides dedicated funding for innovative SMEs through a three Phase support initiative. In addition, Ceratium have experience in refining business and innovation plans for companies helping them to become “investment ready” with strong business planning and routes to market.

Our experience includes multiple successes incorporating high quality SMEs into successful projects across a diverse range of engineering and biotech. Ceratium helped an industrial biotechnology and synthetic biology SME win funding for scale up of biomanufacturing activities and an innovative automotive technology SME develop improved and more efficient manufacturing processes. In the UK working with our client HVPD we built a research programme and secured funding from multiple streams. Starting with an initial feasibility study this grew into an integrated multimillion-pound technology development programme delivering a state of the art sensor and monitoring suite leading to a next generation product for global markets.