Why are we called Aelius Biotech?
Here at Aelius Biotech we have our roots in the Northeast of England, not only starting up and spinning out of the Medical School at Newcastle University but in the name of the company as well.
At Aelius Biotech we model digestion and absorption of a whole range of things, but ultimately, to get from your gut (which is technically the outside of your body) and into your blood system drugs and nutrients have to cross multiple barriers; the chemical and enzymatic barrier in your guts, the mucus barrier that coats the surface of your GI tracts, as well as the cell barrier of the gastrointestinal epithelia.
Newcastle is well known for many things but when thinking about barriers, Hadrian’s Wall would be one of the first to spring to mind – a 73 mile barrier built across the north of England which ended in a place called Wallsend in Newcastle, about 5 miles out from the city centre.
Back when the wall was built Newcastle consisted of just a bridge and a small fort called…Pons Aelius. Aelius being the Family name of Emperor Hadrian who had the wall built.
Hence Aelius Biotech – understanding barriers.
Our Journey
We first developed the model gut as academics at Newcastle University as part of the BBSRC funded Alginate and Obesity project – developing a new functional product for weight loss. We were working with big food companies who wanted to avoid the ethical and PR issues of animal testing, and so developed an in vitro ‘model gut system’.
This system correctly predicted the outcome of a human trial, and was proving really useful in the lab for a range of other projects.
We realised the huge potential of the system so decided to make it available commercially. From talking to our customers we learned that the in vitro models currently available weren’t great for modelling absorption – as these models don’t include a mucus layer – and so we made it our mission to develop the most physiologically relevant models possible.
This led to us developing the Aelius Biotech integrated model gut system – the first gastrointestinal model than can simulate digestion, mucus permeation and epithelial absorption in a single system.
Aelius Biotech now offers a range of in vitro testing and in vivo testing, from simple lab assays and routine testing, rheology, integrated model gut testing through the entire aerodigestive tract as well as running human trials.
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We’re a team of scientists who are excited about unique ideas and want to help our customers do great things.