At San Francisco Informex 2010, Scotland will feature:

ScotCHEM, an unprecedented partnership between seven leading universities, the private sector and the Scottish Government designed to allow a substantial expansion of world leading research activities in Scotland, created in September 2005 with total investment then of the scale of £23m for four years.

A new industry-led Centre of Excellence for Continuous Manufacturing (right) and Crystallization that will serve as a new facility set to completely revolutionise the way drugs are made by pushing manufacture of high-value medicines  and pharmaceuticals beyond existing boundaries.

"Scotland's chemicals sector continues to grow and thrive because industry, academia and government merge together to expand R&D capabilities through enhanced public-private collaboration," said Carol Beattie, senior manager (left) at Scottish Development International.

"With a national focus on excellence and innovation, the structure of our chemicals industry is truly unique and our research and manufacturing capabilities are among the finest in the world."

This year at the leading fine chemical trade show, the Scotland Stand will showcase 12 companies, including Nitech Solutions the Heriot-Watt University spinout, and two major industry collaborations, ScotCHEM and Chemical Sciences Scotland, and Scottish Development International, Scotland's Trade and Investment economic agency.  Together, these organisations represent Scotland's commitment to maintaining its position as an attractive location for investment, with world-class research standards, access to skilled labor, and competitive cost structures.

The country's newest chemicals collaboration, ScotCHEM, pools the resources of Scottish universities' seven leading chemistry departments, Strathclyde, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Dundee, Aberdeen, St Andrews and University of Edinburgh, to allow a substantial expansion of world leading research activities.

ScotCHEM is currently working with Scottish Development International to examine where Scotland's R&D capabilities in biological, materials, pharmaceutical, synthetic organic and catalytic chemistry can link up effectively with the international chemicals community.

"Scotland's new R&D proposition will ensure that any needs of the wider international chemicals community that can be met by the skills and knowledge base existing within Scotland, are appropriately met within our infrastructure and academic community," said (right) Professor Chris Gilmore,  WestChem, University of Glasgow and senior representative of ScotCHEM.

"By presenting Scotland's R&D capabilities to the international community, we aim to connect international chemicals companies with our academic facilities and give them a sense of what it would mean for their businesses to establish facilities in Scotland and employ staff trained in our academic institutions."  

He will formally launch Scotland's R&D Proposition in his presentation titled "Connecting Academic R&D with industry, a new Scottish proposition," today at at San Francisco's famous Moscone Center.

Another new collaborative initiative in Scotland's chemicals sector is the development of a Centre of Excellence for Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallization to advance the field of manufacturing high-value medicines and  pharmaceuticals.

A key player in the joint venture between Scottish universities, Scottish Enterprise and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, William McFarlane from Nitech Solutions will speak about the new Centre at the Moscone Center. 

Left to right  Kemfine (Grangemouth) NiTech Solutions' Eric Stewart (East Kilbride) and Aptuit (Edinburgh) at the New Orleans chemical mission 2008
 
The Scottish chemicals sector accounts for 15% of the UK chemicals industry. Many of the world's leading chemical/pharmaceutical companies have businesses located in Scotland, including BASF, INEOS, DSM, GSK, Dupont Teijin, Merck, Syngenta and Dow.

Scottish organizations showcasing new products and initiatives at stand 840 are: Aboleo, Ceimig, Edinburgh Pharmaceutical Processes/, Fibre Photonics, Ingenza, Jan Ramakers Fine Chemical Consulting Group , Nitech Solutions, ScotCHEM, Solid Form Solutions, Scottish Development International, Almac Sciences, Aptuit and Johnson Matthey's Macfarlan Smith.