NovaUCD’s Celtic Catalysts and Equinome have been shortlisted for The Irish Times/InterTradeIreland 2011 Innovation Awards in the R&D category along with RealView Manufacturing.
Based upon 100 entries, 21 companies, including Celtic Catalysts, Equinome and RealView Manufacturing, have been nominated for the awards.
The Irish Times and InterTradeIreland created the awards two years ago to acknowledge the people who drive innovation in their organisations, either indigenous or international companies who are operating throughout Ireland to promote service, product or operational innovation.
Founded in 2000 by Prof Declan Gilheany and Dr Brian Kelly as a spin-out from UCD’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Celtic Catalysts is a venture capital-backed life sciences company, which has developed ground-breaking chemistry that enables its end-user clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech and fine chemicals industries to realise significant manufacturing cost savings.
Meanwhile, Equinome, which last week won the business category in the David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Awards, is an equine genomics company that was co-founded in 2009 by Dr Emmeline Hill from UCD’s School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine and the Irish racehorse trainer Jim Bolger.
In 2010, Equinome launched the Equinome Speed Gene Test, which can be used to predict the optimum racing distance for an individual thoroughbred by analysing the DNA sequence of a gene related to muscle mass development.
Celtic Catalysts and Equinome are both headquartered at NovaUCD.
The winners will be announced on 2 March. Last year’s overall winner of the innovation award was the life sciences firm BiancaMed, which developed SleepMinder technology. This breakthrough wireless sensor technology has applications for the non-contact monitoring of sleep and breathing in the home.
Dr Brian Kelly, CEO & co-founder, Celtic Catalysts
Article courtesy of Bizstartup.ie
