The versatile Asia flow chemistry system from Syrris is helping researchers at the University of Perugia in Italy to develop novel integrated systems for medicinal chemistry programs.

Antimo Gioiello, Associate Professor in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, explained: “The department focuses chiefly on the discovery and characterization of synthetic and natural bioactive compounds, and the development of pharmaceutical formulations to improve the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of lead compounds. My laboratory is particularly interested in steroid chemistry and receptors, and has experience in the implementation of enabling technologies – such as flow chemistry – to assist complex syntheses, generation of lead-like compound libraries and large-scale compound preparation.” 

“My interest in flow chemistry began about ten years ago, when I met Professor Steven Ley at a European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry congress in Vienna. I realized its potential, and began to investigate flow chemistry applications. Syrris is highly regarded and, after talking to the company, I invested in a modular Asia system to diversify our flow equipment. One of the most important features of the system is the extremely smooth and precise flow achieved by the Asia pump, even at the low flow rates we use in our processes. It is also really useful for compound library generation, screening reactions and optimization studies, as it is easy to work with small amounts of compound, which is important when you work with costly materials, such as enzymes. I am very pleased with the Asia system; it is every bit as good as I expected, and wonderful to be able to translate biosynthetic steroid pathways into continuous flow processes to expedite early drug discovery.”

About Syrris Limited

Syrris develops laboratory automation products for research and development chemists, and is renowned for its batch chemistry reactors and world-leading flow chemistry systems. It offers advanced lab-scale reactor systems – including the Atlas batch reactor, the fully automated Atlas HD system and the manually operated Orb jacketed reactor platform – as well as the Asia flow chemistry systems. The company’s latest innovations include the Orb Pilot large-scale batch reactor and the Titan continuous flow chemical processing systems.

In recognition of its technological achievements, Syrris received the eastern region’s UKTI Best Established Exporter award, as well as the award for the Most Outstanding Export Achievement at the Global Opportunity Conference on International Trade. In 2012, its Asia Flow Chemistry system was the recipient of a prestigious R&D award.

Established in 2001, Syrris is a brand of Blacktrace Holdings Ltd, a world leader in Productizing Science®. The company is based in Royston, near Cambridge, UK, where it employs 125 staff – including 40 chemists and engineers – with offices in the US, Japan, India and Brazil, as well as more than 45 distributors worldwide.