Chambernews
Ross Tsakas
The long road to business success Ross Tsakas, founder of Eulysis UK, talks about the challenges involved in taking a new product to market. Eulysis UK Limited is an innovative company focused on improving the storage and delivery of vaccines, antidotes and antibiotics. The company, which is based at the Roslin Biocentre, has developed the Single Vial System for injectable pharmaceuticals and is currently working to bring it to market. Ross said: “The idea stemmed from my involvement in cosmetic product delivery, which began when I was twelve, working in collaboration with my father. “Realising that there are many pharmaceuticals in which two phases of the product must not be combined until they are about to be administered, I began exploring potential use of a compartmentalised vial system. “During the investigation, I discovered that numerous vaccines must be maintained separately until they are administered and are
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being delivered in two vials. The Single Vial System seemed an obvious improvement on the current technology.” It’s been a difficult road, though. Ross said: “The path to commercialisation has been far from simple. Contacting companies and attempting to be put in touch with the right people as a young entrepreneur meant that most of the time I never got through the door. “And when I did manage to get through the door, people have been apprehensive about taking the first leap of faith into adopting a new idea, particularly in such a stringent and reluctant-to-change sector like Pharmaceuticals. “Managing cash flow and choosing where to allocate funds has also been an arduous struggle as funds are always limited and deciding whether to spend on marketing or product development is a double-edged sword as both are needed. “Such situations need serious thought. For instance, a relatively simple product to enter into the market from a regulatory standpoint might benefit from heavier marketing since it will be more easily adopted by manufacturers, whereas a pharmaceutical innovation needs the risk element reduced significantly through
intense product development before it is even considered by manufacturers.” The company has been successful in receiving support along the way. Starting with an Enterprise Fellowship through the Royal Society of Edinburgh & Scottish Enterprise, the company continued its development through the Cultural Enterprise Office’s Starter for 6 Programme, Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust’s Innovation Fund and was commended as the Most Promising Business of the Year 2012 by Edinburgh Chambers of Commerce. Successfully advancing through the High Growth Pipeline of Business Gateway & Scottish Enterprise, with support from High Growth Advisor John Hughes, Eulysis UK Limited has now been upgraded to the most elite status of Account Management with Scottish Enterprise. Most recently, Eulysis UK Limited was awarded a prestigious Grand Challenges Explorations Initiative Grant through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to continue research and development. Combining this grant with Scottish Enterprise’s R&D Award for Innovation Support, the company will now commence Phase I testing.
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