- MESOX is a spin-out from the pharmaceutics group at Aston Pharmacy School
- The company partners with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to bring challenging therapeutics to market
- It has been shortlisted in the Medilink Midlands Awards 2024.
UK A spin-out company from Aston University’s pharmaceutics research group has been shortlisted for a life sciences industry award.
The Medilink Midlands Awards aim to showcase the very best collaborations between industry, academia and the NHS across the Midlands.
The company, MESOX, founded by Dr Ali Al-Khattawi, a lecturer in pharmaceutics at Aston Pharmacy School, is competing in the Start-Up category for newly established companies that show a promising future.
With in-depth expertise in particle engineering for drug delivery and pharmaceutical spray drying, MESOX uses IP-protected carriers to improve the bioavailability and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, partnering with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to bring challenging therapeutics to market.
Medilink Midlands provides specialist business support to boost the region’s economic output from the life sciences industry. Working alongside the Midlands Engine and other strategic alliances, it helps stimulate additional and value-added growth of the Midlands as a prosperous community for life sciences.
The awards winners will be announced at a ceremony taking place on Thursday 9 May at the Athena in Leicester. To celebrate Medilink Midlands’ 20th year anniversary of delivering business support, one finalist will be announced as the 2024 ‘Winner of all Winners’ and presented with a £5,000 prize for innovation development.
Dr Ali Al-Khattawi, founder and CEO of MESOX, said:
“We are excited to be nominated as a finalist for this award, which is a testament to the innovative research at Aston University that has led to MESOX and a great way to recognise the efforts of our team.
“MESOX is expediting the development of life-saving therapeutics through cutting-edge carrier technologies. Our vision is to be a leading research-based pharmaceutical company in the Midlands one day and we hope this opportunity brings us a step closer to this goal.”
Luke Southan, technology transfer manager at Aston University, said:
“Aston University’s School of Pharmacy has always been a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. This is most often seen through our many students who end up running their own independent pharmacy stores, but it is also the school that has created the most Aston spinouts.
“MESOX is the latest example of this, and it is a company that is on track to be generating significant revenue and region impact over the next five years. This award nomination evidences the potential the company has to offer.”
- Notes to Editors
About Aston
University For over a century, Aston University’s enduring purpose has been to make our world a better place through education, research and innovation, by enabling our students to succeed in work and life, and by supporting our communities to thrive economically, socially and culturally.
Aston University’s history has been intertwined with the history of Birmingham, a remarkable city that once was the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.
Born out of the First Industrial Revolution, Aston University has a proud and distinct heritage dating back to our formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875, the first UK College of Technology in 1951, gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966, and becoming The Guardian University of the Year in 2020.
Building on our outstanding past, we are now defining our place and role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world.
For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Sue Smith, head of press and communications, on (+44) 7816 788663 or email: s.p.smith@aston.ac.uk
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