Cayman Chemical Company

Cayman Chemical Company is an American biotechnology company founded in 1980, headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI.[1] The company provides chemicals that are used primarily by universities and pharmaceutical companies for research and the development of medicines.[2][3] The company is also known as a provider of reference standards to state and federal crime labs for use in the detection of rapidly evolving designer drugs. Small quantities of these known reference standards are analyzed using mass spectrometry and gas chromatography techniques to match against forensic evidence, usually confiscated by law enforcement, or forensic toxicological evidence collected in the form of biological samples such as urine, blood, or tissue.

Cayman Chemical Company
Founded1980 (1980)
Headquarters1180 E. Ellsworth
Ann Arbor, MI
United States
Key people
Kirk M. Maxey
(President & CEO)
Revenue$47 Million
Number of employees
350+
SubsidiariesCayman Pharma
Cayman Europe
Biomol GmbH
Websitewww.caymanchem.com

History

Cayman Chemical Company was incorporated on June 6, 1980 in Denver, Colorado. It was initially a marine natural products company. Building on earlier environmental studies in the North Sound of Grand Cayman Island, Cayman initially sold prostaglandin standards as research chemicals.[4] The company operated in Denver for several years before relocating to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Commercializing the patented work of Philippe Pradelles and others, Cayman exploited the acetylcholinesterase enzyme of electric eels to develop a range of sensitive enzyme immunoassays for prostaglandins in the late 1980s.[5] The availability of these assays enabled the development of Celebrex by Searle/Monsanto, relying on measurements of Prostaglandin E2 and Thromboxane B2, and of Singulaire by Merck & Co, relying on measurements of unstable Leukotrienes.[6]

Subsidiaries

Cayman Europe

Cayman Europe was established in January, 2005 in Tallinn, Estonia. Their operations focus on the distribution of Cayman Chemical products in Europe.

Cayman Pharma

Facilities are located in Neratovice, a town 18 miles north of Prague in the Czech Republic. Production is focused on pharmaceutical ingredients for generic drug formulators, specifically bulk prostaglandins.

Biomol GmbH[7]

Founded in 1968, Biomol GmbH in Hamburg, Germany, distributes more than 300,000 research antibodies, assay kits, specialty reagents and related life science products to research, diagnostic and biopharmaceutical customers in Germany and Europe.

References
  1. Freed, Ben (5 June 2012). "Cayman Chemical plans to expand in Pittsfield Township". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  2. Robert Scott Hudson (2006). Anti-tumorigenic Activity of Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Mechanism and Role in Modulating Colorectal Cancer Chemotherapy. ProQuest. pp. 48–. ISBN 978-0-542-78381-4.
  3. Amitava Dasgupta; Kimberly Klein (11 February 2014). Antioxidants in Food, Vitamins and Supplements: Prevention and Treatment of Disease. Academic Press. pp. 35–. ISBN 978-0-12-405917-7.
  4. Prostaglandins from Plexaura Homomalla: Ecology, utilization, and Conservation of a Major Medical Marine Resource. University of Miami Press. 1974.
  5. Pradelles, Phillippe; Jaques Grassi; Jaques Maclouf (1985). "Enzyme immunoassays of eicosanoids using acetylcholine esterase as label: an alternative to radioimmunoassay". Analytical Chemistry. 57 (7): 1170–1173. doi:10.1021/ac00284a003.
  6. Brideau, Christine; Carlo Van Staden; Chi Chung Chan (November 2001). "In vitro effects of cyclooxygenase inhibitors in whole blood of horses, dogs, and cats". American Journal of Veterinary Research. 62(11: 1755–1760.
  7. "Cayman Chemical Company Acquires Biomol GmbH". Biomol GmbH.
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