The Institut für Biochemie at the Universität zu Lübeck, Germany, acquires an Xcalibur PX Ultra system to accelerate its structural biology programme focusing on the SARS virus.

The Institut für Biochemie at the Universität zu Lübeck has purchased Xcalibur PX Ultra to pursue its crystallographic studies of macromolecules from human pathogens of viral and bacterial origin involved in intracellular infections. Dr. Jeroen Mesters, Senior Research Assistant and Crystallography Team Leader, said of Xcalibur PX Ultra, “The perfect match to our in-house demands; an innovative, compact, low maintenance system, that goes clearly far beyond screening only!”. Rolf Hilgenfeld, director of the Institut für Biochemie, said that he was pleasantly surprised by the superb performance of the system. “I have relied on rotating-anode generators for 25 years and I would not have believed that a sealed-tube system can deliver such outstanding results”, he said. The Chief Executive of Oxford Diffraction Limited, Dr. Paul Loeffen, added “We are delighted that such a high profile institute doing such interesting work has decided to buy one of our Xcalibur PX Ultra systems. We eagerly look forward to seeing the results that will be generated”.

The Institut für Biochemie at the Universität zu Lübeck has played an important role in the emerging understanding of the SARS virus having solved the crystal structure of the first coronavirus main proteinase ( Science 300, 1763-1767 ), and subsequently entered a collaboration with a group in China on inhibitor complexes (PNAS 100, 13190-13195). The joint project on SARS is funded by the European Commission and by the Sino-German Center for the Promotion of Science.

Oxford Diffraction Limited launched its new “Gemini” product at the European Crystallographic Meeting (ECM22) in Budapest this week. Gemini's defining features are co-mounted molybdenum and copper X-ray sources.

Gemini is an innovative new diffractometer which has been designed to be the ultimate system for interdisciplinary and service crystallography. It is a complete automated X-ray system which requires virtually no maintenance and provides both molybdenum and copper radiation as pre-aligned co-mounted X-ray sources.

Gemini can be used for a wide range of disciplines and applications including inorganic and organic crystals, absolute structures (chirality) of pure organics, incommensurates and quasi-crystals, twinned crystals, small weak crystals, electron density studies, high pressure crystallography and simple powder diffraction. It is a turn-key system comprising the large area Ruby CCD detector, which is optimised for both molybdenum and copper radiation, and the revolutionary twin Enhance X-ray sources. It comes complete with Oxford Diffraction's CrysAlis software for automated data collection, analysis and data reduction, a video microscope for sample mounting and absorption correction and can be mounted with nitrogen or helium cooling / heating devices.

Dr. Leigh Rees, Product Manager at Oxford Diffraction, explained how the idea for Gemini had emerged due to the increasing requests to rapidly change wavelengths on the standard Xcalibur platforms. Dr. Rees said “Over the last 18 months since we launched our Xcalibur 3 small molecule diffractometer we have been increasingly supplying a second Enhance X-ray source which the customer would exchange in the field in order to switch wavelengths. We recognised this trend and decided to make this switch available at the touch of a button on a single diffractometer. The extremely positive reception of Gemini at its launch at the ECM22 show demonstrates that there is a considerable demand for such a system”.

Oxford Diffraction Limited secures expansion funding from existing investors TTP Ventures and a new investor Enterprise VCT plc (advised by Noble Fund Managers).

Oxford Diffraction Limited has secured expansion funding from existing investors TTP Ventures and a new investor Enterprise VCT plc (advised by Noble Fund Managers). The round represents a significant uplift in valuation on the previous round of funding.

Oxford Diffraction was formed in 2001 and has grown strongly since its first round of investment, rapidly increasing its market share in the fields of chemical and protein crystallography in both Europe and North America. The company will employ the new funding to accelerate its expansion and also to help fund the development of future products. Paul Loeffen, chief executive of Oxford Diffraction, said “I am delighted that we have secured this funding as it will enable us to build on the exceptional growth that we have seen in the past few years by further improving our offering and service to customers”.

TTP Ventures is a Cambridge-based venture capital fund that specialises in early stage technology based companies. Jonathan Pearce, who is a Director of Oxford Diffraction, and worked on the deal for TTP Ventures said “Oxford Diffraction has made excellent progress since our initial investment. The success of their products, which are the most innovative and cost effective in the market, have helped propel the company into profitability. The new funding will help the company build on this momentum”.

Enterprise VCT plc is a Venture Capital Trust advised by Noble Fund Managers, the fund management arm of Noble Group. Noble Group is an employee owned investment bank based in Edinburgh and London. Doug Fleming worked on the deal for Enterprise VCT plc and said “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to invest in Oxford Diffraction. With a market leading product and significant installed base the management team have put in place a great platform for future growth.” TTP Ventures

Announced on the occasion of Her Majesty the Queen's 80th birthday Oxford Diffraction Ltd has been awarded a 2006 Queen's award for International Trade.

On the 21st April, Oxford Diffraction Ltd was granted by appointment a Queen’s Award; the most prestigious UK business award which is only conferred on the UK’s most successful companies. Established in 2001, Oxford Diffraction wins this award for the first time for increasing its international exports over three years by over 150%.

To be presented by Her Majesty The Queen’s representative, the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, the award which is symbolised by an engraved cut-glass bowl will be presented to the Managing Director of Oxford Diffraction, Dr Paul Loeffen at the company head quarters on Milton Park later this year.

Dr Paul Loeffen said “The management and staff at Oxford Diffraction are delighted to have been awarded this prestigious business award. This is a testimony to everyone’s hard work and dedication”.

Today ‘The Sunday Times’ (London) newspaper announced the 2005 Tech Track 100 awards, ranking the top 100 of the UK’s fastest growing technology companies. Oxford Diffraction is placed at number 44.

Started in March 2001, Oxford Diffraction has reported an average of 89% growth per annum over the period 2002 to 2004 considered in the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league table for 2005, and was profitable. This enabled the company to qualify at number 44 in the top 100. The league table is a compilation of the UK’s most successful and fastest growing technology companies. Oxford Diffraction designs, manufactures and sells analytical X-ray instrumentation which is used to give the three-dimensional structure of molecules for scientific research. Its instruments are used in a range of disciplines including chemistry, physics, materials science, as well as biology and dug design. With venture capital backing, Oxford Diffraction has benefited from the continued interest in genomics and proteomics. Its customers include university and industrial research institutions worldwide.

Dr Paul Loeffen, CEO of Oxford Diffraction said “This is a tremendous accolade and well-deserved by the whole team at Oxford Diffraction. This ranking shows everyone in the company that their hard work is recognised and has delivered really exceptional performance”.

The company is involved in a range of exciting product developments with which it plans to continue its rapid rate of growth.

This is the fourth year of ‘The Sunday Times Tech Track 100’, which ranks the UK’s fastest-growing unquoted technology companies by sales growth over the previous two years. Companies are selected using the London Stock Exchange's techMARK definition of a technology company with particular focus on the development of new technology.

Oxford Diffraction has recently added an R&D100 award to its trophy cabinet for its Gemini R dual wavelength X-ray system. Awarded by the US based R&D magazine the R&D100 awards are awarded by independent judges to the top 100 technologically significant products of the year.

The Gemini R incorporates Oxford Diffraction’s patented CCD and X-ray technology, utilising the 135 mm Ruby CCD detector, kappa 4-circle goniometer and co-mounted hi-flux molybdenum and copper Enhance X-ray sources.

The award winning Gemini R has been heralded by many as the greatest advance in X-ray diffraction equipment since the introduction of the CCD detector in the early 1990's. The defining feature of the Gemini R product is the presence of two co-mounted X-ray sources; one at molybdenum and the other at copper wavelength. Molybdenum and copper radiation have different applications in the fields of small molecule and protein crystallography and prior to the launch of Gemini R the user would have to embark on a lengthy >2-3 hr rebuild of their instrument to change from one wavelength to the other. With Gemini R the Enhance X-ray sources are pre-aligned and switching from one to the other can be achieved completely automatically in less than 3 min at the flick of a software switch.

Dr Leigh Rees, Marketing Manager for Oxford Diffraction said "We are very proud to have won our second R&D100 award in two years. The Gemini R has attracted a great deal of attention since its launch in August 2004 and it is very gratifying to see that we are driving X-ray innovation and producing products that meet the current and future needs of the scientific community."

The R&D 100 awards, from R&D magazine were first awarded 43 years ago and were designed to highlight the 100 most technologically significant new products of each year. Originally known as the I-R 100s, in keeping with the original name of the magazine, Industrial Research, entries for the award are judged by at least 60 outside experts drawn from unbiased professional consultants, university faculty, and industrial researchers with superior expertise and experience in the areas being judged. The winning of an R&D 100 Award provides a mark of excellence seen by industry, government, and academia as proof that the product is one of the most innovative ideas of the year. The products entered for the award must have been available for sale or licensing during the calendar year preceding the judging.

Over the years, the R&D 100 Awards have recognized winning products with such household names as Polacolor film (1963), the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the printer (1986), the Kodak Photo CD (1991), the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), lab on a chip (1996), and HDTV (1998).

R&D magazine have announced Oxford Diffraction's Xcalibur PX Ultra protein crystallography system as one of 2004's top 100 technologically significant new products and winner of the prestigious ‘R&D 100’ award.

R&D magazine have announced Oxford Diffraction's Xcalibur PX Ultra protein crystallography system as one of 2004's top 100 technologically significant new products and winner of the prestigious‘R&D 100’award.

Launched in 2003 by the UK-based company Oxford Diffraction Limited, Xcalibur PX Ultra is a new breed of compact X-ray protein crystallography system for the home laboratory, providing comparable results to a 5 kW rotating anode and image plate (with multilayer optics) but with virtually no maintenance. Xcalibur PX Ultra can be used for a wide variety of applications including crystal screening prior to synchrotron visits, in-house structure solution, weak crystals, large unit cells, and small crystals. Xcalibur PX Ultra is a turn-key system and consists of the 165 mm diameter Onyx CCD detector and the hi-flux Enhance Ultra X-ray source mounted on a 4-circle kappa goniometer. The innovative Enhance Ultra X-ray source is based around a sealed tube combined with state-of-the-art multilayer optics; it provides a finely focussed X-ray beam of 300 micron diameter and runs off a standard 3kW rack-mounted generator. With no moving parts, Enhance Ultra is an extremely reliable and low maintenance source with only a fraction of the cost of ownership of a rotating anode. Since its launch Xcalibur PX Ultra has been installed and is successfully operating in a large number of sites in Europe and North America.

Dr Damian Kucharczyk, Head of Research and Development at Oxford Diffraction said “The Xcalibur PX Ultra has proved to be an extremely successful product, making protein crystallography more affordable and technically easier. This has opened the field to a much wider number of researchers who have been excluded by the maintenance and expense of existing x-ray systems. We are very pleased to have the Xcalibur PX Ultra product recognised by such a prestigious award”.

The R&D 100 awards, from R&D magazine were first awarded 42 years ago and were designed to highlight the 100 most technologically significant new products of each year. Originally known as the I-R 100s, in keeping with the original name of the magazine, Industrial Research, entries for the award are judged by at least 60 outside experts drawn from unbiased professional consultants, university faculty, and industrial researchers with superior expertise and experience in the areas being judged. The winning of an‘R&D 100’Award provides a mark of excellence seen by industry, government, and academia as proof that the product is one of the most innovative ideas of the year. The products entered for the award must have been available for sale or licensing during the calendar year preceding the judging.

Over the years, the‘R&D 100’Awards have recognized winning products with such household names as Polacolor film (1963), the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the printer (1986), the Kodak Photo CD (1991), the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), lab on a chip (1996), and HDTV (1998).