Preclinical Oncology Services Limited (PRECOS), a leading pre-clinical research and development service provider with a specific focus on oncology, announces that it has doubled its capacity to support the strategic growth of the company. Following a successful first six months since its spin-out from the University of Nottingham in September 2010, the company has expanded to accommodate existing and anticipated growth in line with its leadership in oncology drug discovery. By adding this extra capacity, PRECOS will be able to provide its leading specialist services to its existing and growing number of prospective customers. 

PRECOS has recently invested in 200m² of new laboratory space which will see the company expand significantly during 2011. This expansion reflects the continued development of the company as an innovative  leader in oncology and confirms PRECOS' commitment to offer a world-class service to its clients. With an established track record in the field of cancer drug discovery, the company is ideally placed to develop and deliver high quality, solutions-driven, tailored services to the global healthcare industry. 

As part of the business expansion, PRECOS has appointed two new senior scientists to join its team of experts to support new and existing projects going forward. Both senior research staff have significant experience within the pharmaceutical industry, having both worked for a large pharmaceutical company for several years. Their individual scientific competence will enhance PRECOS' reputation for exceptional scientific expertise, which complements its cutting-edge technology and innovative approaches. 

The technology used by PRECOS offers several unique methods which allow drugs to be screened early in the research process for anti-cancer activity, while those with no useful activity can be ignored. It is possible to create cell lines from patient primary tissue that "never see plastic" and are therefore not selected based on their ability to survive in vitro, but on their true characteristics as cancer cells. PRECOS can deliver a customised screening platform either in 3-D in vitro and/or in vivo that can far more closely model the development of cancer and therefore more accurately reflect the effect of potential candidate entities. 

The company will also be joined by a business development manager, a junior scientist, several new research technicians and a new office administrator, who will support and strengthen the company's growth strategy. The new significant additions to the team reflect the increase in capacity and scale and will provide support for the increasing workflow as a result of the company's expansion. 

 "PRECOS expects to continue to rapidly grow during 2011. Due to demand for services from our clients, we've brought forward investment plans which will see our capacity double during 2011, with a similar predicted growth in business during the year," explains Dr. Neil Rotherham, chairman of the PRECOS board. "This will mean significant recruitment at technical and managerial levels in the business, with the aim of building a solid basis for years of growth to come, as well as increasing the size of the operational facility." 

For more information on PRECOS, please call, +44 (0)870 166 6234, email, enquiries@precos.co.uk or visit www.precos.co.uk